


A Ghost And A Hunter Abandoned

by GothMoth



Series: Phantom Phang Phucking Phreaking Phantastical Phabulous Phic Phight Phics 1.0 (The 2019 Edition Revamped) [8]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Accidentally Scary Danny, Adulthood, Angst, Attempted Murder, Blood, Blood and Injury, Burns, Christmas Party, Christmas Presents, Damon's A+ Parenting, Danny Is Shirtless For Half The Fic, Danny's a mess, Disownment, F/M, Found Family, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Impalement, Mental Breakdown, Mentions of Dissection, Minor Injuries, Prince Technically, References To Dan, Reveal, Romance, Serious Injuries, The Danny Support Squad, Violence, Wakes & Funerals, the Fenton's A+ Parenting, the quirks of being a halfa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 76,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27662843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothMoth/pseuds/GothMoth
Summary: Danny is all alone but Valerie gives him a home, but our homes keep our secrets so can he let this one keep and know his?
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Valerie Gray, Gray Ghost - Relationship
Series: Phantom Phang Phucking Phreaking Phantastical Phabulous Phic Phight Phics 1.0 (The 2019 Edition Revamped) [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1994581
Comments: 34
Kudos: 108
Collections: A Phantom Rule





	1. Buying A Slice Of Reprieve At A Small Little Diner

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PiperMasters](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiperMasters/gifts).



> Previously: 47,817k

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe eating at a place where someone with real streets smarts worked wasn’t the best of ideas. Or maybe it was a subconscious cry for help.

The day was warm, it was not an uncomfortable dry heat or a heavy humid one; just simply pleasantly warm. The sun filtering past a light covering of clouds and through the slightly streaky window, making the red table seem as if it was glowing faintly and highlighting the bags under its occupant's eyes. Said persons eyes linger on the sun, thinking it looks almost like the moon due to how dimmed its sunlight is, before moving to watch the liquid in his glass swirl. His staring getting interrupted by a familiar voice, “I’ve seen you around a lot lately Danny”. 

Danny looks up from his milkshake to the face of Valerie Gray. Once enemy, turned lover, turned he doesn’t really know what now. He can tell her tone is slightly worried, so he makes a point to brush that off, “what can I say, the Nasty Burger’s a great place to be”. Danny leans back, hands behind his head as Valerie rolls her eyes at him, “we both know that’s a load of bullshit, and no one brings two entire duffle bags with them to a fast food joint. So what’s going on Danny”. 

Valerie sits down and, noticing Danny eyeing her name tag, rolls her eyes, “I’m off the clock, Danny. You really should worry less about getting others in trouble and more about keeping yourself out of it”, she emphasises her words with a hard stare at the bags making it clear she won’t give up on that. Danny just smirks, “but trouble’s where I get all my kicks?”. 

The waitress comes over giving Danny his pancakes, making Valerie quirk an eyebrow at him, “I thought you were a burger kind of guy, what? on a budget?”. At this Danny just shrugs as he lowers his hands to eat. Speaking around a mouthful of pancake, “something like that”. 

Valerie looks him over, taking in how his cheekbones stand out more, the shadows on his face giving a stark contrast to his pale skin, and how his clothing is slightly more loose than she’s used to, even if he’s still insanely tall and muscular. “You haven’t been eating very well have you?”, with a sigh she continues, “look, I’m not going to push you or anything, but it’s clear something’s up. So either we can kee-”. Danny cuts her off, “I’m fine Val, ju-”. It’s Valerie’s turn to cut Danny off, “no you clearly are not. Even if you feel fine, something in your life clearly isn’t fine. Now, I’m getting some pancakes and you’re going to eat them”, giving him a sharp nod and glare that doesn’t allow for any arguments. 

Valerie points a finger at him a bit aggressively as she hails over a waitress. After ordering pancakes for herself -that Danny will be eating or so help her- she turns back to Danny. Who, of course, tries to wave off her help, “that’s really no-”. 

Her cutting Danny off again, “yes it is, you’ve lost more weight than is probably healthy and no, that jacket is _not_ hiding it”. Danny rubs his neck at that, not happy to be so easily called out. He’s used to being good at hiding but he guesses it’s not so easy when you can’t shape-shift the proof away. Valerie, knowing Danny’s tells damn well, “that’s what I thought”, relaxing into the back of the seat, she continues, “could you at least tell me why you don’t want to talk about it? I know you have a thing for keeping secrets for others comfort but I don’t need that. So feel free to unload a bit”. She honestly doesn’t really expect him to actually tell her though. 

Danny stares at her for a bit before deflating. Shovelling the last of his pancakes into his mouth before speaking, “handling my shit is what I know, so it’s what I do. And it’s what I’ll keep doing”. Valerie rolls her eyes at this but it’s not mocking, “yeah well, maybe don’t do that sometimes. Your world doesn’t have to be carried alone and frankly, doing that will be the death of you”. Danny can’t help but chuckle at that, the knee jerk response spilling out of his mouth, “too late for that, already dead”.

Valerie chuckles too though shaking her head, “you’d think for someone who avoids ghosts like the plague, you wouldn’t have such death focused humour!”. The waitress raises an eyebrow at the two as she brings the pancakes over. Both of them quickly thanking her before Valerie pays, “but really, what is with your love of dark humour?”. 

Chuckling, Danny supplies, “dealing in death every day does that”. This response only confuses Valerie more, “I know your parents’ work, Danny, but last I checked you did everything you could to not be involved with ghosts?”. Danny frowns at the mention of his parents, and decides against swallowing down his bitter reply; giving voice to it instead, “that’s because my parents have biased opinions and can’t see past their own damn bullshit”.

Valerie, a little taken aback more or less realises what’s going, or more so what’s happened. But she doesn’t want to force it out of him or call him on it. “I know they’re strong-headed in their beliefs on ghosts but considering this is a more literal ghost town, I don’t know why that would be such an issue”. Danny just sighs as he starts eating his new plate of pancakes. The lack of complaining about accepting it, giving away his hunger. 

Watching him, Valerie sighs, “you could, like, come chill at my apartment? Been a while since I’ve had anyone over for a movie marathon and cheap popcorn”. It’s a cheap excuse and she knows it, but it isn’t a lie. Danny shrugs, “I don’t think I’ve got anything to do tonight, so I don’t see why not. With Tuck and Sam off at uni, I don’t ‘just hang’ much”. And he’s okay with that, they have their own lives to live and futures to build. He wants them to have that. To keep having that.

Valerie smiles at her small victory, “then it’s a date. Do you know where I live now?”. Danny raises an eyebrow at her over the first part but knows she’s making joke, “can’t say I do”, but that’s a total a lie, he knows where every single resident of Amity Park lives. His ghostly Obsession with protecting people demands he does. And it does certainly help with getting people back home in emergencies; but him knowing that comes off as a fair bit creepy and he knows it. 

Rummaging in her bag Valerie pulls out a torn up piece of paper and scribbles her address down. Handing it to Danny, she doesn’t expect him to actually stay for more than one night but it’s something. Danny chuckles, “cool, date then”.

Danny dips the hard edges of his pancakes -that he’s torn off from the rest of the pancakes- into what’s left of his milkshake before eating them. Earning the always satisfactory grimace from anyone who can see him. Even Valerie gives a disgusted scowl, “I swear you do stuff like that just to bug people”. Danny shrugs, “maybe I do, maybe I don’t”. Valerie playfully shoves him while mockingly saying, “oOoOoOo so mysterious”, making both of them laugh slightly. 

The two of them are all smiles and chuckles for a while until Danny’s ghost sense goes off. Danny sighing, “well this has been great, but I should head out”. Valerie watches him as he grabs his stuff and sticks the paper in his pocket, “running off to wherever it is you always run off to without warning?”. Smirking, Danny replies as he speed walks out the door, running draws too much attention he’s learned, “you know me too well”. 

Valerie, now alone, mutters, “no, I really don’t and that’s part of the problem. No one really knows you, Danny. I refuse to let you destroy yourself like that”. Getting up, she puts away the trash that Danny clearly forgot about, and heads home. Completely unaware of the ghost fight going on halfway across town, well outside of her radars reach.

* * *

It takes Danny till ten to actually show, Valerie’s not sure whether or not she expected that. She’s also not sure whether or not she’s actually happy he showed up at all, when she spots what is clearly blood drip off his jacket. A jacket which is now suspiciously zipped shut. She decides not to question him, in concern that he may just up and leave. Instead asking, “so you ever gonna tell me what the mysterious place is and what’s so great about it that you just have to run off randomly to go to it?”. Danny just smirks as he sits down on the floor, she notes that it’s a forcefully slowed action. She’s all too familiar with the same motions, so she’s even more certain he’s hurt now. 

“A guy has his secrets”, and he winks with a crooked half-smile. 

Valerie picks up the humorously poorly made B horror movies she put to the side and waves them at him as she responds, “I’m a pretty damn good secret keeper, you know”. Valerie turns, catching his knowing mischievous smirk. Rolling her eyes, “Danny, I know you know about the whole Red Huntress thing”. Danny goes wide-eyed at this and even seems slightly frightened. “Chill dude, I barely hid it”, shrugging, “what with all my rants in school and all the injuries. I’m much better now though”. In some ways she’s surprised the whole town hasn’t figured her out.

Danny visibly relaxes, “I can tell”, quirking an eyebrow at her, “but how’d you know I knew? That was pretty gutsy, just blurting it out like that”. 

Valerie rolls her eyes as she sits down gently on the floor, not wanting to jostle the clearly injured Danny. “Yeah I guess I wind up on the tv a lot, don’t I”, both of them laugh at that before she continues, “also, you don’t run away from The Red Huntress, But you run away from every other ghost or ghost hunter”, poking his shoulder gently, “kind of gave you away when I really thought about it. And Danny, I trust you. Even if you are a self-sacrificing dumbass”. Danny smirks with traces of worry in his eyes, “a dumbass you kissed”. Valerie shakes her head fondly, “fair enough, fair enough”. 

With that the pair settle in for a night of movies, really terrible movies. However, Danny passes out only thirty minutes into the first movie. Valerie, knowing full well that Danny will wake up if she unzips his jacket, she instead moves to shine her phone's flashlight on its dimmest setting underneath it. Taking a photo quickly so she can see the damage or at least see how much has been patched up. She’s not pleased to see that he’s wrapped from armpits past waist. Even she rarely needed that much wrapped, and she fights ghosts. Shaking her head, “what the Hell have you gotten yourself involved in Danny”, she sighs, knowing there really isn’t anything she can do unless he opens up, for once in his life. 

She quickly learns that Danny wakes up every hour, checks his surroundings, and passes back out again. It’s obvious he’s good at it too, she’s barely able to catch it herself. A less trained eye wouldn’t catch it at all. How exact his timing is, almost makes it seem like he’s been trained for it. Which is a slightly disturbing thought. Or maybe it was something his parents had drilled into his head since he was young, to ‘stay on guard for ghosts’.

Eventually, Danny wakes up for good around three a.m. “Wow, I’m genuinely amazed there was no gho-issues tonight”, Danny catches himself as he remembers his surroundings. Turning his head to the area of warmth near him, seeing Valerie is asleep, snoring lightly. Sighing, Danny heads to her bathroom, no need to bother with the lights thanks to his night vision. 

Once in the bathroom, he sets to work. Pulling out his mini emergency first aid kit, which is pathetically low, in search of what little bandaging he has left. He puts it to the side, hoping he won’t need it, “alright, let's make quick work of this”. Danny sits in the shower so he can easily wash down any fluids. Be it blood or ectoplasm. Once he’s gotten all the wrapping off he groans, “crap, that’s still pretty bad”. Danny glares at what was once a bowling ball-sized hole, now about the size of a golf ball, going clean through his stomach. Muttering dryly, “well, at least my hips are healed”. Forgoing the bandages -to save them for bigger, more urgent injuries- Danny tapes some of Valerie’s toilet paper over each side of the hole, “hopefully that’ll stay put”. Danny eyes his blood-stained wife-beater, which he had been intentionally wearing backwards all day; which is now pointless to do, since both sides are badly bloodied, “well now that’s officially garbage. I only have two left, thank the Ancients this jacket is durable”. Danny goes to put back on the ruined wife-beater anyways, just in case he bleeds through the toilet paper. 

Walking back into the living room he spots some blood droplets by the door. Muttering, “shit, well hopefully she didn’t see that yet”, as he quickly goes to wipe it up; burning away the paper towel with a small ecto-flame. Stopping in the kitchen when he notices that Valerie isn’t snoring anymore. Being cautious, he pours himself a glass of water to use as an excuse if need be.

Valerie had indeed woken up, just in time to hear Danny mutter about the blood on the floor. But she elects to not get up, again not wanting him to run off. As Danny settles back in, she pretends to have been awakened by him sitting down. Danny splashing a bit of water on her leg helped with that. Not realising Danny actually did that intentionally knowing she’d ‘wake up’ if she was actually already awake. “Have a nice nap?”, Danny chuckles to the (fake) groggy Valerie. 

“Yeah, what’s it to ya?”. 

Danny chuckles faintly, “oh nothing”.

Hearing his tone Valerie knows somethings up, “you knew I was awake didn’t you?”. Danny smirks, “you stopped snoring”, shrugging, “so yeah”. Rolling her eyes, Valerie stretches out, “most people don’t snore constantly you know. You’re just paranoid”. Danny chuckles at that, “well I was right, wasn’t I?”. Valerie smacks him playfully for that, “well you need to relax more, you wake up, like, every hour”. 

Danny’s silent for a second before responding, muttering into one hand, “no ones ever called me on that before”. 

“Well I’m the Huntress, I have to notice things or I’d be dead by now”. 

Danny chuckles, “join the fucking party”. Valerie, eyebrow raised, “there are a few ways I could read that”. He did grow up in Fenton Works, after all, that place was bound to be filled with hazards. Could also just be his dark humour rearing its head though. 

Sitting back up she waves the remote, Danny gives a little nod, so Valerie un-pauses the movie; keeping the volume low. They watch the shoddy camera work and painful over-acting for a bit before Valerie speaks up, “I promised popcorn earlier, still interested?”. For whatever reason Danny finds this quite hilarious, laughing heartily and smiling wide as he responds, “sure, I guess even the dead need to eat”. Valerie doesn’t claim to understand his humour, but smiles anyways as she gets up to go to the kitchen, “you know, if you keep making jokes like that the universe might just grant your wish”, Valerie frowns a bit in the kitchen, at how Danny laughs even harder, as if it is already too late. 

“Everyone’s got to die Val, and everyone should”, rolling his wrist, “nature’s order and all that”, then grabbing at one of the bowls of popcorn she brought over. She shakes her head as she sits back down, “well, I want both of us to stick around for a lot longer”. Danny smirks and elbows her, “you’d think you’d slow down with the Huntress stuff then”. Valerie playfully bops him on the head with the bottom of her bowl, “it’s called getting better. Living dangerous is fine, so long as you can handle it, Danny. Plus, it makes living more, well, you know...”, Valerie trails off hoping he finishes the thought for her; and he does. 

Him tilting his head, “genuine and satisfactory?”, nodding, “yeah, you have to take more of life in when you’re always on your toes for the next fight or crisis. You adopt a go-with-the-flow mindset, stagnation doesn’t suit high-wire living. And there’s something to be said about that phrase ‘helping others to help yourself’. Most see it pessimistically but I’m certain it’s not”. Valerie nods herself, “most folks don’t see life past their own front yard”.

The pair laugh at that before Valerie speaks up again sheepishly, “though I’ll admit helping people wasn’t my reason. Overtime it became a secondary mission, but still”, shrugging before looking to Danny, “I know you care more about helping people with whatever it is you do, but you need help too”. 

Danny looks deflated again and scratches absently at his left hip, “what is your main reason then? Why keep doing it?”. Valerie can sense there’s an underlying question there but noting how he ignored her offer of help again, doesn’t push, “it started for revenge of all things, petty I know”. Shaking her head as Danny laughs, “yeah that’s petty for sure”; he has always found it petty, and he’s always going to; no point really hounding her over it though. Especially when there was so many misunderstandings involved. Valerie continuing, with her own hands behind her head, “now the thrill of a good fight and winning it, is what gets me up in the middle of the night. The art of exchanging practiced blows and the comfort in my own abilities”, giving the air a few mock punches. 

Danny watches her for a bit, an unreadable expression on his face, before nodding and speaking, “it’s the routine of things, I’d say, as well. Something so major in your life and you just stop? Now that, that would actually destroy a person”, furrowing his eyebrows slightly, “I’m certain there must be some sort of urge, a pull to it, that would tear you up inside if you didn’t heed the call”. 

Valerie feels concerned over the slight edge of pleading in his voice; like he desperately wants what he says to be true, “you’re not wrong”, continuing as she watches him relax in relief just a little bit, “I mean, I don’t get upset over fights I’ve missed so long as I didn’t know about them beforehand. But it’ll bug me for days if I missed one I knew about”, shrugging, “I guess it’s like you said yesterday. It’s just what I do and I’ll keep doing it”. Valerie feels almost humbled by that realisation, with a new respect for Danny’s thought process. Her hunting had become routine, an addiction even; but more so something that was just simply part of her that she couldn’t part with. Hunting was as natural now as breathing. Valerie wasn’t Valerie if she wasn’t also the Red Huntress. ‘Ghost Hunter’ was a label permanently attached to her, and that’s the way she likes it. 

Even with her thinking on this realisation, she doesn’t miss Danny’s lost in thought muttering, “yeah well, every missed one haunts me”. Valerie jolts him out of his head when she actually responds to his muttering. Causing him to jump a little and go wide-eyed. “That won’t do you or anyone any good. Go-with-the-flow includes being able to accept missing out sometimes. I know you’re cool with missing out on anything that actually seems to help just you, like classes”, and a job is left unsaid, as Valerie is certain he doesn’t have one. “But both of us have to accept that we can’t fight or can’t help everything or everyone”. Valerie gets up to swap the movies out as Danny stares out her window; fiddling with his hands and the cuffs of his jacket.

Valerie eats a few more pieces of popcorn before pulling him out his head again, “God look at how bad her flailing is”. Danny turns to watch and can’t help but join Valerie in light-hearted laughter, at the actress who looks more like a screaming fish than a person. 

“Could you- could you imagine if- if someone you were fighting behaved like that?”, Danny’s question makes both of them laugh even harder. 

“I think- I think I’d have to make a weapon that- god, that utilised my laughter or something!”. 

Both of them picture something like that and laugh hard enough to hurt. Which for Danny it actually _does_ and while he conceals it with practiced grace; Valerie takes note, remembering his wounds. Tactfully she asks, “wanna see all my weapons? I’ve got a pretty crazy looking first aid kit too”. She knows Danny won’t steal anything, but she secretly hopes he does. And at one time the prospect of someone stealing her Huntress stuff would make her paranoid, due to her dad doing exactly that so often, but she’s moved past that mostly and this is _Danny_. Even if he did take something he’d return it, restocked or possibly even in better shape than before.

Danny and Valerie make their way into one of two rooms in her apartment, movie forgotten. Valerie, noting Danny’s slight surprise at seeing weapons lazily hung up in plain sight and another clearly being worked on, sitting on a table, “since I’m on my own now I can keep everything out as I please. And this is the result of that”, fiddling with her hair some, “honestly, it’s becoming a bit of a disorganised mess”. Danny chuckles, a question on his lips, “I can tell, again it’s ballsy to just keep stuff in the open like this. Don’t apartments get inspected?”. 

Valerie can tell that’s not the only question on his mind, shrugging she answers, “this is Amity Park, Danny. Ecto-weapons are almost expected. Though the landlady _does_ eye me cautiously most of the time”, turning back to Danny after she straightens out a few of the weapons, “I guess I don’t really care what people think and I can tell you want to ask something else, so spill”. 

Danny runs his fingers over a few of the weapons, she’s not sure whether to be surprised by his comfort or not. Fenton Works was filled with weapons and she doubts they’re stored neatly. But at the same time, this is Danny, the guy who runs from ghosts and hunters alike as fast as he can. He looks at her with an unreadable expression, “why’d you strike it out on your own anyways? It’s not like you make a lot of money?”. 

Valerie can tell that, like always, Danny genuinely cares. That’s part of what she’s always liked about him, even if he cares to the detriment of himself sometimes. Sighing, “my dad gave me an ultimatum, stop being a hunter or leave”, sighing again to really show her annoyance and how tired of this she was, as she adds, “said he didn’t want that kind of thing in his house”. Shaking her head, “he’s the one who brought me into the world so it should be my house too”, grumbling, “didn’t work out like that though”.

Valerie can see the wheels turning in his head and she notices the lie on his lips before he even opens his mouth, “don’t lie for an easy explanation or to be sympathetic, Danny. I’d rather have nothing than a lie”. Danny slowly smiles at that, which is honestly concerning to Valerie. He speaks anyways, “it wasn’t really a lie just...”, and trailing off. 

“A half-truth?”, Valerie finishes for him. Him nodding, “yeah, that”, then shaking his head, “you’d think parents’ would be proud of something like that? I mean it _helps people_ , why should it matter how you do it?”. Smirking, Valerie claps him on the shoulder as she goes to lift up her biggest gun, “‘cause they care more about their kid's safety and their own ‘hopes and wishes’ for their kids, rather than knowing their kids help people”, she can tell this isn’t just about her dad anymore.

Danny eyes what’s basically an over the top bazzoka and whistles a bit, “made this yourself, huh? Pretty nice”. Valerie grins proudly, “yup, I’m not surprised you can tell. I bet you’ve cleaned and inspected more than your fair share”. Danny chuckles as he passes back the weapon, “we’re probably the two most ecto-knowledgable twenty-somethings around”. 

Valerie laughs as she sticks the weapon back in its case, pulling out her over-sized first aid kit, “don’t you know it!”, with a smirk she adds, “I know your sister was never one to care for such things. Therapist was always her goal wasn’t it?”. Danny groans loudly as he eyes the first aid, “you have _no idea_ , she took every chance she could to ‘analyse’ me, it was infuriating. And you weren’t kidding about this, I don’t know anyone who has enough for a full-blown military crate”, snooping around a little, “you even have Hagedorn needles and synthetic skin?”. Valerie smiles at Danny’s clearly impressed face, “had to specially order it, got a lot of strange looks from the delivery man”, chuckling to herself before shaking her head, “I’m almost concerned that you know what those are but, at this point, I think half of our old high school class has seen them before”. Danny laughs, “don’t tell Tuck that, he’d pass out”. 

* * *

Eventually, the sun comes up; filtering sunlight in through the windows. And Danny, knowing she has to work, decides it’s time to take his leave. Though he has a sneaking suspicion she doesn’t want to let him go. Watching a bit of dust floating in the sunlight, “well, I guess that’s my queue to go take in the daily sights of Amity Park”, looking to Valerie, “I don’t think I even have to ask, but see ya around?”. 

Valerie sighs, knowing better than to push her luck, “always Danny, I don’t think either of us are ever getting out of this town”. With a smirk Danny heads out the door, both duffle bags in tow, “why would we ever want to? The rest of the world is clearly too normal to handle either of us”. 

As the door shuts behind him Valerie knows he’s right, her muttering, “and you always were the weirder one weren’t you...”, to nothing and no one in particular.


	2. First Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even someone as expirenced as Danny can't always just deal with his own shit without help, and Valerie could use some company.

The two go on like this for some time, with Danny showing up at the Nasty Burger and Valerie inviting him over for movies. They talk about everything from sports to why the shrinking middle class will be the death of them. Eventually, Danny starts staying for longer and longer. Days at a time and eventually, to Valerie’s pleasure, his figure fills back out some and he walks with brighter eyes. 

On one of his three-day-long stays they wind up getting a visit from The Box Ghost, but neither can really be bothered to catch him. Opting instead to bitch about their days to him, never letting him get a word in. The minute his mouth opens, one of them would start ranting again. Eventually, he just runs away to the Ghost Zone on his own. 

Danny chuckling, the pair of them wearing goofy grins, “well that’s the absolute weirdest way I’ve ever won a ghost fight!”, Danny wheezes and doesn’t even bother to wince at his slip up. Valerie laughs, “I’d think you wouldn’t have very many to pick from! But I imagine everyone and their mother has beaten The Box Ghost!”. Danny can’t help but chuckle even more, thinking about just how many battles he’s fought and won in increasingly absurd ways, “you- you’d think he- he’d just _give up the ghost!_ ”. 

Valerie stops and looks at him before bursting out laughing again, “Danny! That was _awful_!”. 

Danny just finger guns as he walks over to the cabinets to grab a pop. Valerie, watching from the floor as he makes his way back, “one of these days you’re going to OD on caffeine. How do you even live with that much in your veins?”. Flopping down on the ground dramatically, Danny makes a horrible show of acting dead, “I don’t”, sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth. Valerie’s honestly impressed he managed not to spill even a drop of his pop. 

* * *

Some days later, Valerie gets a call from her dad, over one of the few things he’ll actually call her over; family issues. Danny doesn’t want to be nosey but there’s really nowhere in the apartment he can go, where he won’t easily overhear. Leaving him muttering, “stupid ghost hearing”, under his breath from the living room while Valerie sits on the kitchen counter.

Valerie getting out a clipped greeting, trying to not sound annoyed, “what is it?”.

_“Your aunt Mille died and the funeral’s tomorrow. Same place as the one for Carl. Be there please“._

“And why didn’t I hear about this sooner, dad?”, snapping, “oh I know, because you won’t talk to me”.

_“Just be there, and no ecto-anything”._

Valerie huffs and scowls at the air, “yeah sure whatever”.

_“No ’sures’, **there will be no ecto-stuff.** And no running off. Your family matters, not some ghosts tail you insist on chasing”. _

Valerie’s scowl deepens, “yes father, can I go now? I have people who _actually_ want me around to get back to”.

Her dad hangs up without so much as a goodbye, leaving her muttering, “jerk”, down at her phone. 

Danny watches her come back in with a sad smile on his face, “let me guess, bad news and worse parenting?”. Sure his guess is a bit unfair since he heard everything but she doesn’t know that. 

“Yup, the usual. Funeral tomorrow”, leaning back against the foot of the couch, “feel like joining so I don’t have to suffer alone?”.

Danny laughs at that, “wow, I hope you don’t mean that funerals are the ‘usual’, but sure. No one should have to deal with shit parents’ alone”. 

Valerie can clearly see the double meaning there, “and that includes you Danny, you know”. At that Danny just shrugs, “at least no ones parents’ are trying to kill them...”. Valerie whacks him, “what the fuck Danny? That’s dark even for you!”. As she walks off to her room to find some suitable clothing and call her manager. She doesn’t catch Danny mutter, “well at least they aren’t any more”.

Valerie eyes Danny thoughtfully as she walks back in, “you don’t have a suit or anything do you?”. 

Considering all Danny had in his duffle bags, which were slowly growing more empty, was what he deemed ‘necessities’; he answers truthfully, though not quite meaning to say everything he does. “Nope. Only Vlad would pack a suit in emergency bags”, he rubs a hand over his neck looking away as soon as he realises he basically just admitted to being in trouble. 

Valerie raises an eyebrow at him, though she’s unsurprised, she already knew they were some kind of run-away or emergency bags. Chuckling a bit over the Vlad comment anyway, “you’re not wrong, that man cares more about his looks than being even close to a half-way decent person. We do need to grab you something to wear then though”. Danny rolls his eyes, thankful she didn’t call him on the ‘emergency bag’ comment, even if he knows she heard it. Danny speaks very sarcastically, “I’m not borrowing one from _uncle Vlad_ ”. Valerie gives a curt nod, “good, owing him anything is bad news”, tilting her head, “but ‘uncle’? Was that a joke or serious? And do you have anyone you could barrow one from? ‘Cause I don’t”. Valerie takes the time to pour herself some tea as Danny responds, “the frootloop wishes it wasn’t a joke, but that’ll never happen. And sadly, no I don’t. My only suit is at Fenton Works”.

Walking back into the living room, noticing Danny eyeing her tea, “decaf, you should try it”. Danny sticks out his tongue, “bleh, that would eliminate the entire reason to drink it”. 

Shaking her head as she sits on the floor, not using the couch has become something of a tradition for them, “the relationship you have with Vlad is just plain weird. Seeing you two in the same room is even weirder. It’s like he wants to murder you and baby you at the same time, while you just act like he’s either already dead to you or about to be if he doesn’t leave immediately”. Danny bursts out laughing at this, “that obvious huh?”. Valerie smirks, “yup and I’m shocked, no ‘already dead’ jokes. You feeling okay there?”, giving him a teasing shove. While Danny mutters just loud enough for her to hear, sounding genuinely disappointed with himself, “I couldn’t think of one”. Valerie nearly spills her tea from laughing at that.

Finished with her tea, Valerie goes to put it away and by the time she turns back to the living room, Danny’s gone. Sighing, “well at least his stuff’s all still here so he’ll be back. And we didn’t even get to figure out the suit dilemma”. Valerie is tempted to go through his bags, he never leaves both of them at her place, but she decides against it. Knowing full well Danny’s ability to come in out of nowhere startlingly fast, and knowing he has a key now. She then stops and looks at the door, “that’s weird”. Walking over to the door she checks that it is indeed still locked, with the deadbolt closed, “how the Hell Danny?”.

* * *

On the other end of town, Danny finally catches up with Skulker; who is dragging some kid by the neck as ‘bait’. Danny spends little time with this fight as the kid is in immediate danger, making the kid, rather than quips, the first order of business. 

Skulker jeers over that fact, “not one for talk today eh ghost boy?”, as he hurtles the kid at the ground. 

The only response Skulker gets is a low growl as Danny swoops down catching the kid. In the process, a bunch of harpoon-like barbed needles ram into his back, connected to Skulker’s arm by electrically charged cords. Danny knows he effectively walked straight into this one, but he doesn’t really care, as Skulker yanks him back and wastes no time in electrocuting him. Danny’s not too concerned about that either though, he gets electrocuted too often to really be bothered anymore, and the kid made it safely back to ground and cover; so it’s a net positive overall. 

Through gritted teeth and a snarl, Danny manages to spin around and, using the velocity of both himself being pulled and his own strength, decks Skulker’s head clean off. He wastes no time in getting him into the nearly filled thermos. As the rest of Skulker’s body plummets to the ground, the cords going taut and yanking him with it. Danny has to cut the cords with a little ecto-beam before he can suck in the metal suit, otherwise, he’s pretty positive he’ll get pulled in as well. 

Shaking the thermos a bit as he goes to duck into an alleyway, muttering to himself, “I’m going to have to throw this at Boxy when I see him next”, tapping his chin, “I’m amazed he actually returns it after letting the ghosties out, maybe because it’s cylindrical?”. That would track for the square Obsessed ghost.

Once fully concealed in the alleyway, he experimentally tugs on one of the cords and winces. Turning his head around to get a better look and tries pulling one out again, but due to how they’re made it’s basically impossible to do it without utterly destroying his back. And he does not have nearly enough bandaging to cover even a third of that level of damage. “So now what? I’ve got no money, can’t do hospitals, and nowhere I can go that would give me fre-“, Danny cuts himself off as he realises that Valerie would in a heartbeat. Sighing, “she’ll ask so many questions I can’t answer but I can’t just leave this alone. I’ll be bleeding for at least two full days if I don’t have bandaging”. Hell, he could possibly bleed out from that level of damage if he left it untreated anyways.

Groaning, he sits down and pulls out each barbed needle, yanking them fast and hard by the still attached cords; grunting faintly each time. Turning his head a-hundred-and-eighty degrees again to make sure he’s got them all and taking in the absolute mess that is his back, “well at least I’m not walking back with ecto-weapons sticking out of my back”. Turning back human, he immediately rips off his jacket to keep it from getting soaked in blood. His wife beater’s already drenched on the back, so it’s a lost cause. 

He heads back completely invisible, only returning to visibility as he approaches Valerie’s door. Fully aware that the hallway cameras are fake, “thank the Ancients for cheap living”. Danny unlocks the door but pales as he realises, “oh fuck the dead bolt, I’m a fucking moron”. Seconds later the door swings open, to a clearly confused and shocked Valerie.

Hearing a knock on the door Valerie rushes over, muttering, “I so want an answer for how he got out or how he locked the deadbolt behind him”. However, that gets completely forgotten as soon as she takes in Danny’s bloodied appearance. 

“Danny, oh my god!”. Valerie doesn’t even move for a second until Danny says, “uh, can I come in?”. She physically yanks Danny in by both arms and goes to shove him by his back to the bathroom, only to stop when she sees the blood-soaked through the tank top. “DANNY! WHAT THE FUCK!”, Valerie spins back around and drags him by his hands again. While Danny gives the best excuse he could come up with, “I fell on some anti-homeless spikes”. 

Valerie plops him down in the shower as she runs over to her first aid kit, yelling, “shirt off now!”. Danny peels off his soaked shirt and leaves it in the corner of the shower, normally he’d turn on the water to clean it and himself; but with Valerie around that’s probably a bad idea. He didn’t want to make it seem like he was as used to this as he really was. 

Valerie throws a plastic sheet on the ground and dumps all the different items she grabbed. Snapping, “turn around”, completely unimpressed with him and by what she sees. Danny’s back really does look like he fell on spikes but also like someone jumped on him at the same time. Slowly she washes away the mess with water from a cup and pours antiseptic over the clean areas. 

Danny stays completely silent during the whole ordeal and that worries Valerie, “if you pass out on me I will slap you, Fenton”. Danny stiffens and responds almost before she gets the entire name out with a harsh, “ **don’t** ”. Making Valerie roll her eyes, unfazed by Danny’s slightly threatening tone; she’s heard him throw it at Dash often enough back in school to not really care. She needs to do what she’s doing though, he needs it, “Danny, it stings yes but it’s needed”, then opening up the packaging to one sterilised needle. She’s good and practiced at this, but that doesn’t mean she enjoys it or is happy she has to do it; especially to someone else. At least when it was her needing stitching there was no one else to blame but herself. With Danny, who knows. 

Danny finds it oddly comforting feeling her hand gently stitch up the holes, likely being more accurate than he could ever be. It’s not exactly easy to stitch yourself up; especially your back (heck, the only reason he can even do that is his body manipulation). So he tries to focus on that, the odd comfort of that, instead of his ‘parents’; but he still owes her an explanation, he did technically scold her while she’s helping him. So he mutters, “not that”, without much feeling and hopes she gets what he means. 

Sighing, Valerie slows a little with the needle and shifts on her knees, “I don’t think I get what you mean”. 

Danny slouches forwards a bit causing Valerie to accidentally rip out some of the stitching, “Danny!”. Straightening back up he quickly mutters, “sorry”. Valerie shakes her head, feeling even more unimpressed especially since he didn’t yelp in pain or show any signs of even feeling it, “‘sorry’ ain’t going to cut it right now Danny. I want explanations, starting with my previous question”. Valerie makes the effort to lean her face beside Danny’s so she can glare right at his eyes, before sitting back on her knees. 

Sighing Danny speaks softly, just barely above a whisper, “I’m not ‘Fenton’, not anymore”, with slight hints of both bitterness and sadness. 

He doesn’t see Valerie’s eyes go wide, he just assumes they do; as her only response is, “oh”. So Danny chuckles to break up the tension, “just Danny is fine”. With her deciding to go along with the attempt to lighten the mood, “so my guess was right then, more or less”. 

Valerie quickly washes her hands before reaching over to her sizeable stash of bandages, “arms up”. Danny obliges, as he gives an only slightly empty smirk, “what? you just assumed they kicked me out?”. Valerie shakes her head as she wraps the bandaging around his torso, “you were hanging out as long as you could without raising suspicion and you have two ‘emergency bags’ around with you at all times”, sighing, “the only people who do that are runaways and the homeless. And we both know you’re not the runaway type”. 

Danny chuckles again, genuinely this time, “yeah, you don’t exactly see either around Amity Park. Most folks without a place to go, stay the Hell away from ‘ghost city’”, Danny ends with a real smirk and studiously avoiding actually confirming the ‘homeless’ thing, then grunting, “little tight there Val”. 

Valerie laughs with a head shake, “I’d say sorry but your dumbass distracted me”. 

Danny rolls his eyes as he stands, finally uncrossing and stretching his legs, “excuse you, my ass is perfect”. Valerie has to put her hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles, “well it’s pretty hard to tell in those ratty pants”. Danny coughs in slight embarrassment, which hurts but he doesn’t care. Valerie, however, does, “don’t hurt yourself more now”.

Examining her work, “turn around so I can make sure I didn’t mess up the front”. Danny turns around hands on his hips, superman style, and scoffs, “you wouldn’t dare make such an error on my bod”. He almost instantly starts chuckling again. Valerie rolls her eyes and makes a damn point to explicitly ignore the boy’s muscles. 

Once Valerie really starts looking him over, fiddling with the bandaging here and there, he can’t help but deflate. Here he is with someone else who doesn’t know, trying to fix him, “I’m awful and this is awful”. Valerie looks away from his bandages to his face then, not liking his tone or his frown, “normally I’d agree with you after that previous statement, Mr. Superman. But I can feel there’s something more there so, no you’re not awful”. Giving him a final once over before continuing, “though I will agree that your wounds are awful, but I don’t quite think that’s what you’re referring to either”. 

Danny rubs the back of his neck at that, trying for honesty, “I guess I’m just not used to the idea of you patching me up. You’ve hardly asked me any questions too”, Danny watches Valerie waiting for an answer. 

“Well I do want answers for what the Hell happened to you, not to mention how the Hell you got out”. Danny rubs his neck as she continues. “Yes I did notice the deadbolt. But getting you fixed is more important. And Danny”, Valerie gives him a rather judgmental raised eyebrow, “Amity Park doesn’t _have_ homeless spikes”. Valerie smirks as Danny goes wide-eyed and facepalms. 

Walking back to the living room and sitting down on the couch for once, she motions for him to follow suit, “could you imagine the nightmare if we did have those, Danny? With people getting thrown around and dropped from the sky all the time?”, shaking her head and grimacing, “it wouldn’t even take a weak for someone to die on those things”. Danny blushes at this and mutters, “shit yeah, that would be pretty dumb”, especially considering how often _he_ got hurtled at the ground. 

Danny looks around as the two go quiet again. Sighing, “so... what kind of answer will you accept?”. Valerie locks eyes with him and makes sure her tone is at least somewhat scolding, “the truth, Danny”.

Valerie can see the panic in his eyes almost immediately, her sighing, “maybe just give me an easy truth first, I said I wouldn’t push you. And I meant it, it’s, just, these wounds are _bad_ , Danny. Really bad”, making a point to grimace at him, “anyone else would have dragged you to the hospital and I _know_ that’s why you came here. That, and I’m guessing you don’t have much medical supplies left”, nodding her head towards Danny’s bags before continuing, “can you at least tell me what actually caused the wounds if not the whole situation”. Valerie watches heavily veiled emotions, barely noticeable, flint over his eyes. Like he’s trying to sort himself out and his options. 

“That I- ah. Yeah, I can do that, yeah”, Danny’s hand might as well be attached to his neck, though he drops it now, “you’re not going to like it”, shrugging, “but I guess why would you?”. Valerie smirks, “Hell no, I may do what I do for more selfish reasons but I still don’t like people getting hurt. Especially people I know”.

Danny smirks then too, “yeah I remember that being why we broke up”. Danny’s eyes go wide as he mutters, “oh man she’s gonna-”. Valerie puts a hand on his shoulder, “you’re talking to yourself out loud, Buddy. And making me more, not less, worried”. Danny’s neck rubbing returns full force, “I actually do that a lot but usually less stupidly”. 

Shaking himself he tries again, “it’s just, it was from a ghost and remembering why we broke up, I knew you’d think it was any enemy of yours and thus your fault. But I assure you it wasn’t”. Danny waves his hands back and forth as Valerie goes wide-eyed, “Danny WHAT?!, then who’s fault was it?!”. 

Danny’s hand goes straight back to his neck and he looks around awkwardly, avoiding her eyes, “well, ah, there was this kid. Ghost fucking threw him at the ground. And, ah, well, you know me”. Danny glances to her and away, fully expecting a scolding. 

Valerie blinks at him, barely believing what she’s hearing, “um, Danny. I know you to _RUN AWAY_ FROM GHOSTS, NOT _FIGHT_ THEM!”. Danny winces at this and remembering that he still basically promised to tell her what _exactly_ hurt him, “self-sacrificial idiot, remember? Sam and Tuck used to call it my hero-complex”, grimacing, “that kid would have _died_ , Val”. Looking into her eyes again, sheepishly telling what’s effectively a half-truth, “besides, I went to catch the kid, not fight the ghost”, he _did_ catch the kid before actually fighting Skulker after all. 

Valerie realises the conclusion she jumped to, and closes her eyes to calm herself, “okay, that, that makes more sense. I guess, I would hope most people would try to save a kid falling from the sky”, nodding to herself before levelling Danny with a slight glare, “and Danny, I know not every ghost attack is my fault, heck I know basically none are. Yes I worried about you getting in the crossfires back then, but I was stupid. I should have just told you and let you decide for yourself if the inherent danger was worth it”. Sighing, she leans back against the couch and looks to the ceiling, “so sorry for making you worry about me blaming myself”. 

Valerie can clearly see Danny’s pretty shocked but he almost looks relieved? as he responds, “the, uh, sorry isn’t really needed. But, thanks”, Danny goes to lean back but instantly pulls forwards again. Valerie sighing defeatedly, “you dumbass. Did you _seriously_ forget?”. While Danny looks sheepish something dawns on Valerie, “uh, Danny? I get hurt a lot, like _a lot._ I know how painful it is. Why aren’t you crying, in shock, or something?”, heck, he should be begging for medication or even hard liquor with the severity of his wounds. Honestly, they were bad enough that she really should have taken him to the hospital, “if I didn’t know better, and couldn’t see your chest, I wouldn’t be able to tell you were hurt”. 

Immediately Valerie can see panic in his eyes again, making her sigh, “Christ Danny, just how many secrets do you keep?”. Danny looks to his hands, steadying his breathing and speaks softly again, probably hoping to not actually be heard, “all of them”.

Valerie just stares, “that is _not healthy._ Whatever secrets you have I swear I can handle every last one”, and she means it. Then her eyes widen with understanding, “that’s why isn’t it?”. Danny looks at her completely confused but also severely paranoid, so she continues, “why you’re ‘not Fenton’ anymore. They found out a secret and rejected you for it...”, trailing off before adding quietly, “just like me”. 

Danny’s paranoia drops almost completely, instead replaced by a feeling of comradery, “huh, I feel pretty selfish about not even thinking about that”.

Valerie pushes him fondly on the shoulder, “selfish doesn’t exist with you, Danny. You just have panic-induced forgetfulness”, bringing her elbows down on her knees and hands to her mouth, “you going to tell me what exactly hurt you? Cause ‘ghost’ could be an awful lot. Plus if anyone knows ghost-related injuries it’s me and I’ve never seen wounds like that or gotten them for that matter”. Groaning Danny attempts to lean back again. Making her shake her head, “do I need to make you sit on a stool? You dumbass”. Danny just shrugs, “you don’t own a stool. But, um, hand me my jacket”. 

With one eyebrow raised, she gets up and grabs the discarded jacket off the kitchen floor, walking it into the living room and handing it to Danny. Danny digs into the right pocket and produces one of the barbed needles, electric cord still attached; he thanks himself for washing the ectoplasm from his ghost form off. He holds it up by the cord as Valerie’s face pales. Her grabbing it gingerly, “Zone Danny, even I’ve never seen something this, this-”. 

“Cruel?”, Danny supplies. Valerie nods a little, “yeah, that. Was this... was this seriously meant for a _little kid_?”, Valerie drops it into the palm of her hand like it might explode. Danny knows the answer is ‘no, it was meant for me’ but he can’t -won’t- say that, “I was in the way, there uh, was twenty or so”, and cringes.

Valerie snaps her head over to him, “WHAT!”, breathing again to calm herself, “Danny, how? How did they all come out? Because this-”, gesturing to the weapon needle thing, “-this looks like it’s meant to go in and _stay in_ ”. Danny nods at that, feeling a bit more comfortable, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Valerie, “I took them out, by the cord”. Valerie stares at him incredulously, “you mean to tell me, you yanked these things out of your _own back_ in some alleyway, _one by one_?”, At Danny’s sheepish nod, “Christ Danny, what the fuck. Even I know I flat out _could not_ do that. One or two maybe, but twenty?”, snapping a bit, “can you not feel pain? Because if you can that means pain is something you feel _so often_ that you’re just completely fucking numb to it”. 

Danny shrugs, starting to get panicky again, “I can feel it fine, I just can ignore it. It, uh, usually bothers me only when it first happens and when I’m not having to focus on other things anymore”. Valerie shakes her head, “I get like that in battle myself but what the Hell are you focusing on so hard now that you’re forgetting your pain?”. 

“Uh, panic and trying to figure out what to say and how to say it. But I’m not really forgetting it, it’s just not at the front of my mind”, Danny twists his midsection a bit as if to prove a point. Making her sigh, “you’re always slightly paranoid and panicked, Danny. It’s like you’re a soldier on the battlefield at all times”. Danny shrugs loosely, like it’s no big deal, “welcome to my life I guess”. Making her frown at him. 


	3. We Are The Sins Of Our Fathers, Or So They Tell Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Words hurt more than actions sometimes.

Later that night, Valerie is rolling the needle around on the kitchen table; when she spots some wiring sticking out of the cord. Looking at it she easily recognises what it is. Dropping her cereal spoon she walks back to the living room, where Danny is laying on his side watching the news. Speaking up after watching him for a bit, “um Danny?”.

“Hmmm?”.

“Were you, by chance, also electrocuted?”. Judging by Danny suddenly stiffening, Valerie figures she’s right. Danny swallows, choosing to play dumb, “uh, why?”.

Walking over she sticks the end of the cord in Danny’s face. Seeing the wiring and knowing Valerie would recognise it, “oh, um, guilty as _charged_ ”. Valerie flicks his head, “really Danny? Your first response is an electrocution joke?”. 

Shrugging Danny smiles, “what can I say, can’t resist a good pun. And it was a little _shocking_ ”. Danny can’t wait to use that line on Walker whenever he comes after him with a cattle prod again. Valerie groaning, “you’re awful”, shaking her head and poking him to get up, “your bandages probably need changing and probably more antiseptic”. Watching Danny get up, “you know, you could have put a shirt back on. It helps now but still”. 

Danny looks slightly confused but then explains himself, “well it hasn’t been washed yet so...”. He realises his fuck up instantly as Valerie looks kind of pissed, “you mean to say you were going to rewear a shirt covered in blood and holes?! Do you not have other shirts?”. Danny rubs his neck as he walks into the bathroom, Valerie close behind. Valerie throws her hands up a bit in exasperation, “oh for Zone’s sake, you were and you don’t. God, Danny we are going to have to fix that”. As soon as Danny starts to lift up his hand to wave her offer off Valerie speaks up again, “oh no, you are _not_ getting out of this. You _will_ accept me taking you shopping. Just not till next week”. 

Danny stops and looks back at her, Valerie nearly slams into him and looks up at him confused. Danny just whispers -slightly panicked- at her, “suit”. Valerie, wide-eyed mutters, “right, fuck”. Shaking herself off she pushes Danny to the door, he goes in of his own accord though. 

Sitting down again in the shower, with the discarded shirt still in the corner. “Well, whatever. We’ll figure it out, the days not over yet. Just means we have no choice but to get the one from well, you know”, Valerie cringes as she remembers that he’s probably not welcome there, “I’ll go ask for it if you want. Arms up”. Danny lifts his arms up as he answers, “no, if we have to use _that_ suit. You’ll have to steal it”, grumbling seemingly to himself, “if it’s even still intact”.

Valerie pauses her unwrapping of the bandages, “you’re kidding right? They couldn’t seriously be _that_ mad?”. Danny sighs, “I may have intended to sneak back in for-”, pausing to figure out how to phrase this well and quickly deciding there really isn’t a way to, “-somethings. But as soon as I saw my room I just noped out. Everything was destroyed, Val”, shaking his head angrily, “they even ripped up the floorboards, ceiling insulation was everywhere, and the walls had holes, _big holes_ ”. 

Valerie whispers, “what the fuck”, that was seriously messed up, for _any_ parent to go _that far_? Did they think he was Satan now or something? Shaking herself, she continues unwrapping the boy as she speaks, “I know they’re a bit overboard most of the time but that is insane. And I’m not even going to allow you to try and get the suit yourself then”. Valerie catches him muttering, “it’s not like I could anyways”. Which throws her off a bit, “um, what do you mean by that”. She isn’t sure just how concerned she should be but considering what she’s learned she goes with, ‘very concerned’. 

Danny scratches his chest, now that it’s free from its bindings and talks right over Valerie’s shocked gasp at the state of his back, “uh, you remember how they have an emergency system? Well, like all the locks in the house and everything else. It can be genetically coded”, shrugging, “basically they coded the house to attack me the second it senses me”. 

Valerie momentarily forgets the odd situation going on with Danny’s back, “WHAT! DANNY THAT IS SO FUCKED UP!”, moving to stand in front of Danny, Valerie grabs both his shoulders looking more than a little furious, “I AM GOING TO KILL THEM! WHAT THE FUCK! WHO EVEN _DOES_ THAT!”. Making someone’s own home, that they grew up in, attack them, has to be crossing _so many lines._

Danny can’t help but mirror her fury, all his pent up anger over them coming out combined with the fact that he does, in fact, _trust her_ , “and you know what’s fucking worse? I GODDAMN KNEW THAT WOULD HAPPEN! I never told them shit! Because I knew, I DAMN WELL _KNEW_! They’d get up and run or turn on me!”. Throwing his hands out to the side, he continues as Valerie stares at him a bit in shock. “So I always had to be less than me!”, he jabs both his thumbs at his chest, hard, “and after a while of that _shit_. I guess my damn view of them changed. They went from family to obstacles. Things I had to avoid for my own damn safety!”, slumping back over he aggressively slams his chin on to his closed fist, elbow on his crossed right leg. Muttering, “they were fucking tired of my secretive bullshit. They wanted the truth, and they damn well got it. After that, well, I wasn’t worth a thing anymore. They’ve made it clear they want nothing, absolutely _nothing_ , to do with the real me”. Rolling his eyes he glares at the still stunned Valerie, muttering quietly, “I had been ‘tainted’ in their eyes. And the ‘Fenton’s’ couldn’t have a ‘monster’ in the family, now could they?”. 

Silence hangs in the air for a while, until Valerie lets out a heavy breath, “okay, wow, there’s a lot there I’m sure I don’t understand and you unloaded _a lot_ , but that doesn’t matter right now”. Sitting back behind Danny, she pours fresh antiseptic on his back gently. Just a little bit of physical pain to take the edge off of the apparent emotional pain, hopefully that works for him like it does for her, “you going to be okay, Danny?”, her voice is filled with nothing but concern. 

Danny mutters, “what the Hell does okay even mean?”, while glaring at the shower wall. Which both worries and surprises Valerie, biting her lip a little, “I don't, I don’t think you’ve _ever_ actually admitted to not being completely okay. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. But I’ll take the honesty any day. And I swear, I goddamn _swear_ , I will not turn my back on you or hate you for any, and I mean _any_ , secret or craziness you drop on me”. At this Danny sighs and finally smiles a little, “thanks Val, I won’t lie and say I believe you though”. Valerie nods, tearing up a little, “after what they did I don’t blame you. Especially after hearing you call yourself a monster. You are _NOT_ a monster Danny, whatever this secret is”, there’s nothing that could change her mind on that, even if he was _literally Satan_. Danny is Danny, and Danny is a damn good person; one of the best she’s ever met. 

Danny just shrugs, “I can’t say I believe you on that either”.

Valerie hands Danny a bucket of water so he can wash his shirt while she grabs fresh bandaging. Sitting back down she watches Danny for a bit before speaking up, “now that you’ve calmed down, do you think you could explain why your back only looks like someone scratched you up a bit?”. Danny stops washing for a beat before trying to find the words, “I, uh. Well, um. Hmmm. I guess, yeah I guess that it’s because of my, uh, ecto-contamination”. Valerie pauses unrolling the bandages, that doesn’t quite make sense, “okay, I’m pretty sure everyone has that in Amity Park. Hell, I probably have more than most, but I don’t heal like this. Kind of wish I did though”, sure her suit helped but not too much. 

Danny lifts up the shirt inspecting it, shaking his head he dunks it back in, “Val, you can’t open the Fenton fridge without a fifty-fifty chance of something coming to life and attacking you. Hell,-”.

“Arms up”.

Danny obliges, unceremoniously dropping the shirt in the water with a splash, “-the portal was directly below my bed. Both me and Jazz should be practically charged with ectoplasm”, on top of that, Jazz’s room was right next to his; and his room was practically more ecto than floorboards, thanks to him and all the ghostly visitors it saw.

Valerie blinks, “what do you mean portal! There is a ghost portal inside Fenton Works!?”. _Why_??? Is that even safe?

Danny chuckles as Valerie then continues to wrap him up, “yup, been there since I was a freshman. It has a door though, so it’s not like a constant entry/exit to and from there”. Valerie shakes her head, “does it at least have a lock or something?”. Valerie doesn’t know why that makes him frown till he opens his mouth, “yeah and it’s coded so that only a ‘Fenton’ can open it”.

“Oh”.

Valerie, continuing after a while, “you can put your arms down now, and at this rate you’re not going have anything other than bruising by tomorrow”. Valerie can’t help but feel kind of impressed and jealous again, “have your parents even tried to apologise? Like, is there even a chance they’ll calm down?”, leaning against the shower glass, watching Danny scrub at the shirt, “I know when my dad found out about Red he trashed all my ghost hunting stuff. I know it’s not the same but after a while he apologised and we had a talk. I know he was hoping that he could stop me from doing what I do, but when he realised he couldn’t. That’s when I got the ultimatum”, sighing, “at first he wouldn’t even talk to me when I left and he did throw all my stuff to the curb. But after a while we got to more reasonable ground”, sure he still never really called, but he’d at least say hi and ask how she’s doing if they ran into each other around town, “I’m not saying it’s the same, but your parents’ are known for going overboard and being excitable, so is there any chance? Also, there’s no way you’re getting all the bloodstains outta that”. 

Danny shrugs angrily, “Val, they already legally disowned me”. Valerie drops her arms to her sides, “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THEM!”. Pinching her nose and breathing, “that is so messed up”, shaking her head, “okay yeah, there’s no chance and no fixing them. Your parents’, no _the Fenton’s_ , are dead to me”. Danny smirks at that but resists a ‘they’re not the dead ones’ joke, “glad we’re on the same page. ‘Cause the thing is, they don’t care about me, they just want their ‘perfect family’. And I don’t fit in it”. Specifically, they wanted their ‘perfect _anti-ghosts ghost hunting_ family’, meaning his ectoplasmic ass had to go.

Danny lifts the shirt out and flicks some of the water off. Shirt in hand he stands up. Valerie, looking up at him, “most people start with making their kids stop, or trying to make them stop at least”. Shaking her head she stands up too. 

After Danny hangs up the (still bloodstained)shirt, he sighs, “that’s the thing Val, the big difference between your dad's rejection and my parents’ rejection. Your dad can believe and hope that you’ll ‘retire’ one day, but it’s literally not possible for me to change, ever. It’s not something I chose”. Ancients, if anyone chose this it was those two by building that portal; he still doesn’t blame them for that though. 

Valerie gapes at him from the doorway, “that makes it even more messed up that they’d reject you over it. Every time I hear something about them from you I hate them more. And the sad thing is? I can tell you don’t hate them, you’re just... disappointed”. 

Danny shakes his head as he walks past and sits on the floor, patting the ground, “I’m not someone who hates, Val. They could make it their life’s goal to murder me and I wouldn’t hate them. I know that for sure”. And he really did, he had after all half lived it. 

“You’re too pure for this world Danny”, Valerie smiles as she sits down and bumps his shoulder. Danny smiles slightly at that, “yeah, I’ve been thinking about that actually”, making Valerie quirk an eyebrow as he continues, “I think this world wasn’t meant for people like us, and I don’t know about you but I’m still waiting around for the day I can stop masquerading”. 

Valerie blinks at him and puts her head in his lap after a bit, staring up at him while he looks out the window, “Danny, that’s, that’s surprisingly deep”. 

Danny smirks, “I have my moments, though at this point I’m waiting for the afterlife to give me that freedom”. And really? He already did have that freedom in the Zone. He has never had to pretend to be someone or something he wasn’t there, or hide part of who and what his is. 

Valerie absolutely feels like she should be worried about that statement but doesn’t want to jump to another conclusion, “uh”. Danny waves his hand at her, “don't worry, I’m sticking around as damn long as possible. There’s just no way I’m keeping any secrets or playing pretend once I join the Ghost Zone”. And wasn’t that the truth.

Valerie lays a hand on Danny’s cheek and he leans into it gently, she’s glad he’s not going down some suicidal rabbit hole and her now feeling the need to lighten the mood some, “we don’t even know what causes people to become ghosts, moron”. Danny chuckles throwing his head back, “and there goes the moment! And I have it in good opinion that I certainly will be a full-blown ghost one day”. In fact, he knew it was a verifiable _fact_. 

Valerie looks to the ceiling, “well you better not mess with people, unless it’s just puns. And I have a feeling there’s a lot more you’re not telling me”. Danny chuckles again, “you have no idea. No way I can even sort of explain without explaining many other things first. And I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to be getting a suit”. 

Valerie rolls her eyes at him, “that was your least subtle subject change ever, Danny. But you are right so...”, sighing, “I’m definitely not going to just ask for it. Because, honestly, I think I’d punch them”. Danny can’t help but laugh hard at that, “you wouldn’t be the first!”. He frowns and sighs then, as Valerie mutters, “is this something else that’s going to make me hate them?”. 

It takes about two seconds for Danny to go from discontent to controlled anger, “lets just say”, Danny grits out, “they tried to ‘fix me’... _by force_ ”. And that’s something he prefers not to think about. Them trying to reverse the charge of the portal. Trying to tear out all his ectoplasm, his Core. The things that made him just another one of the monsters in their eyes. 

“What. The. Fuck. Yup, I hate them more now and for once I don’t want to know the details. I hope you punched both of them”.

Danny, still mad, “I did more than that, I’m positive I scared them. Made them even more damn certain about me. But what the fuck do they know?! It’s not like there’s any damn research”. Danny looks away and steadies himself, breathing a few times to calm down a little, noticing the slight coldness growing in the room, “the really sad thing is in the beginning I would have let them try. I mean, I was scaring myself! And it’s not like I could do anything about it, cause how do you run from your own body? Back then I just wanted to be normal, you know?”. He had been terrified and angry and sad and so many other things in the beginning, at his body, at the things happening to him, at the lack of control; it was in one word, horrible. But going through that was worth it for what he gained in the end. 

Valerie sitting back up, “at one point I did want to be normal yeah, but now I wouldn’t trade being The Red Huntress for anything. What about you?”. Danny instantly brightens up and smiles fondly, “not a chance! I guess in the same way as you, I have my pride about it. Even if I’m keeping it a secret. But it’s the best secret I’ve got, if that’s any comfort”. She smiles back at him then, “oddly it is, and you know one day I’m going to find out, Danny”, wagging a finger at him playfully, “and fully expect me to be proud on your behalf as well”. 

Danny stands up and holds his hand out to her, “we’ll see then I guess, and yes you should be proud of being Red”. As she takes his hand and lets him pull her up, letting go to walk to the door as she speaks, “so we’re, or I’m, stealing this bullshit. How?”. Chuckling Danny walks to the door and they leave together, out with the purpose of petty crime. Though if you were to ask either of them they wouldn’t call it a crime.

* * *

As they walk, Valerie holding the straps of the backpack they intend to stuff the suit into. Danny, with his hands in his jacket pockets, “question, just how long do you think I’ve known about Red?”. Valerie kicks a rock down the sidewalk, “I assumed you found out some time just before I broke up with you, like an idiot”. Danny smirks, “I might sound like a jackass, but I knew from the very beginning”. Valerie snaps her head to him, feeling utter disbelief, “what! Then why the Hell didn’t you tell me that when we first got together!”. Danny shrugs, “knowing about you was one of my secrets and, well, you’ve found out how I am about secrets”. Valerie throws her hands out a bit, “you really are a dumbass”. If she had known that she would have approached their relationship back then entirely different. Probably still would have broken up with him thinking it was ‘for the best’ though.

Just as Fenton Works gets close, Danny suddenly smacks face-first into, something? “Ow, what the Hell?”, rubbing his nose. Valerie, a few steps in front of him turns back looking confused. As Danny taps at, what is now clearly a force field, he scowls, “oh you have got to be kidding me. I’m both impressed and pissed”. 

As Danny knocks on the shield again, Valerie walks back to him, “what’s going on and what did you just run into?”, Valerie attempts to touch it but she finds nothing, watching Danny press his palm against whatever’s there and clearly seeing the pressure on his hand; like he’s pushing against glass. 

Danny grumbles as he drops his hand and goes to sit down on the sidewalk, making a point not to lean his back on the wall, “there’s a force field that is, apparently, keyed into me”, Danny then mutters to himself, “they made fucking anti-Danny shields, Ancients that is messed up”. 

Valerie stares, mouth open, for a bit, “that’s utter bullshit, that, that is so many levels beyond extreme. Wait, have you seriously not tried coming back in that long?”. Danny looks up at her, “no? why in the name of all the Zone’s infinite lands would I? The way I saw it, and still do see it, is that they’ll have to apologise to me if they want the rights to be near me ever again”. Shaking his head, “you’ll have to go in and get the suit from here, is it really that necessary?”. 

Valerie shrugs a little, “honestly, it’s partly out of spite at this point. But my dad would be pissed if you came in anything else”, not that she particularly cares all that much, “and also good for you, Danny. They should have to earn you back after the shit it sounds like they’ve pulled”. Valerie walks into the nearest alley and activates her suit. Then activating the cloaking, she goes and puts her head next to Danny’s; who actually turns his head towards her.

She shakes her head at the slight mischievous twinkling in his eyes and his smirk, “I’ll be back, and also I’m damn impressed you’re aware of your surroundings enough to figure out where I am”. Smirk growing, Danny supplies, “your cloaking isn’t true invisibility. You distort the air and the things behind you”, speaking a little smugly, “ghosts, on the other hand, do not”. Valerie completely misses that he’s gloating. Shaking her head, Valerie flys off into the building through an opened window; not trusting the door to be unarmed towards humans.

The first thing Valerie does is head up to Danny’s room. Which is exactly how Danny said it was, things are strewn and destroyed everywhere. Angrily sighing, she gets to work digging through what is basically debris, in search of a hopefully intact suit. As she searches, she starts to notice an unpleasant pattern. Anything that looks like it was hand-built, was a favourite item, or hand to do with space; was the most smashed and heavily destroyed. The bits of ruined ecto-technology and medical supplies is also pretty worrying; like they wanted to make sure he couldn’t use it even if he managed to come get it. 

After about three minutes she finds a pile of black fabric. Silently groaning when she realises it’s been torn into ten different pieces. Stuffing the pieces into her backpack anyways, she goes down the steps but decides to check out the basement and the portal before leaving. 

Standing in front of the closed portal she can’t help but be in awe. She goes up and nearly touches the metal doors, but being cautious she doesn’t ever come into full contact with it. Shivering and feeling a little disturbed, wondering why they even built this thing. Did they just want to see if they could? Confirm their research and theories? Whatever the reason, she’s got a feeling this portal is at least partly to blame for the ghost problem; would explain why they never told anyone about it. Shaking her head, she heads back up the stairs and flies out. 

Danny’s still where he was before but now he’s standing, looking at the sky. He looks so peaceful that she just hovers watching him for a bit before she sees him smirk and look straight at her. Rolling her eyes she flies into the same alleyway. After coming out she nearly slams into a still smirking Danny, “enjoying the view?”. Valerie swats at his chest, “always have”. Earning a soft chuckle from Danny, “early freshman Val would disagree”. Rolling her eyes again, she grabs Danny’s wrist and drags him into walking, “yeah well, that me was a blind moron”, then giving him a bright smile.

Once they’re out of distance from Fenton Works, Valerie swings around her backpack and opens it up a bit; letting Danny look inside. He snorts humourlessly, “can’t say I’m surprised, you were warned”. Frowning Valerie sighs, “I know and I can’t believe how right you were. But we’re going to stitch this back together and make you the most damn unique suit ever”. Danny smirks and zips the bag closed, “spite?”. She nods, “spite”.

As they slip back inside Valerie’s place they immediately get to work on the suit. Danny raising an eyebrow at the old machine, “why do you even have a sewing machine?”. Valarie gives him a dumbfounded look, “because I’m Red, duh, my clothing gets damaged pretty often, my suit can’t protect from everything you know. So I just rewear the mended clothing to avoid constantly buying new stuff”. Danny mutters, “why have I never thought of that?”. Her turning to Danny, “how have you kept any secrets when you clearly mutter about them in public?”. Danny’s face goes beat red, “because people are stupid, really _really_ stupid. And blind, that too”.

Valerie laughs in agreement as she gets to work putting on the finishing touches to the suit. Holding up her work, it looks like a patchwork suit. Well made but still very different, at Danny’s request she used white thread for the actual suit and used black thread on the white undershirt. She’s surprised it doesn’t look tacky or too weird. “I’ll give it to you Danny, the contrasting threads were the right choice, it stands out wonderfully without looking strange”. Looking around she realises Danny is nowhere to be seen, “seriously Danny?”. Groaning she goes to bed, knowing he’ll be able to get in on his own. Muttering just before she passes out, “because clearly, he can get out on his own”.

* * *

Danny flies around the anti-Danny shield surrounding Fenton Works, figuring out the size of it and pondering how the Zone he’s supposed to access the Ghost Zone of his own accord if he can’t even get near the portal. Plus it would be nice to not need the Box Ghost to empty his thermoses anymore. If he could just get close to the portal he could probably jerry-rig an override for the locks and maybe a detachable quick deposit to it. But it looks like he can’t pass through as Phantom or Phenton. Shaking himself out of his ponderings he patrols around Amity, like he does nearly every night. 

He winds up helping a lost tourist, signing a little girl’s crayon, and taking a litter of abandoned kittens and their clearly exhausted mommy to the local no-kill shelter. Chuckling as he heads back to Valerie’s, “Sam sure does know how to get what she wants. Kill shelters can’t even come within easy flying distance of Amity”. 

He lands easily inside the apartment, sighing quietly to himself, “it sure is nice most ghosts respecting my territory more, they don’t barge in even half as much as they used too. Though somehow I get the feeling the portal is locked up tight. So I won’t give the ghosties too much credit”. What once was three to four stronger ghosts and ten or so small fries, was now usually at most one stronger ghost and some friendly encounters. And the ghosts that did show were less likely to damage his town or the people in it; went after the lair keeper not the lair itself. Skulker and Vlad tended to be the exclusions to that, both willing to do anything to claim him. 

Looking around he hears Valerie snoring in her room and after checking she really is asleep, Danny returns to visibility in the bathroom. Flushing the toilet, he walks out and flops down on the oversized couch; passed out in seconds.


	4. The Devil Goes To Church

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A ghost at a funeral sounds like the start of a really painful joke, and it is.

Valerie wakes up to Danny hunched over one of his bags with some kind of paper. But as soon as he notices her, he rolls it up and sticks it in his bag. She still decides to ask, even if she doesn’t really expect a genuine answer, “whatcha doing there?”. Danny shrugs, “just reading, I’m guessing we have to go soon?”. Valerie actually laughs at the weak deflection, “once again that was not subtle Danny, but yes we’ve got about two hours before we have to head out”.

Danny stretches out basically all of his body, muscles blatantly on display. Making Valerie shake her head, “at this point I’d think you were allergic to shirts and did you even sleep?”. It’s like once she got him out of those wife-beaters of his, he just forgot they existed altogether. Danny nods, “good three hours yeah, and I’m not going to walk around in a dress shirt. But if you want me wearing one that badly...”. Danny trails off as he heads to the bathroom, grabbing the (now dry)wife beater, and putting it on backwards. 

Valerie is sitting eating cereal in the kitchen when he comes out, making her roll her eyes at him, though reminded of Danny’s apparent lack of suitable clothing. Pointing at him, “you’re wearing it backwards, dumbass. And I can’t believe you’d still wear that”. 

Danny smirks, “no shit, my jacket will cover the back so no one can tell my shirts messed up. Instead I just look like the weird scary guy who wears his shirt backwards”. Valerie rolls her eyes, “I’m the scary one here, Danny”. Danny smiles, not about to deny that Valerie scared people, “I’d say we both are, you’re a bunch of muscles with a gun. I’m a seven-foot and then some wall of muscle and a leather jacket”, oh and a rather overpowered ghost who could literally take out buildings by yelling. Valerie waves her hand at him, “but you’re sweet to everyone you meet and I’ve always been rather put-offish, even if you don’t think so”. She gets that some people could be intimidated by Danny’s size but she’s pretty sure personality and a persons general aura matter more in the ‘being scary’ department. 

Danny puts his hands on his hips and leans forwards a bit, “excuse you, I’ve been told I’m quite unnerving, that I reek of power, that I am fearsome. So...”, Danny shoots his hands up in the air, does the ‘scary fingers’, and makes a show of baring his teeth, “BEWARE!”. Valerie nearly chokes on her cereal, “honestly that was scarier than him!”, and she would be one to know. Danny smirks, feeling a bit of genuine pride, “glad to know I instill more terror than Boxy”, giving his smirk a slightly menacing edge, “that will serve me well one day”. Valerie starts coughing, “and there are the dying jokes again”, smiling anyway, “just to humour you, you will definitely be more fearsome than The Box Ghost”. 

Danny with one hand on his hips sticks his arm out and gives her a thumbs up while winking, “thanks for the vote of confidence!”. 

As Valerie puts away her dishes and Danny starts on his own bowl, there’s a knock at the door. Danny, with his mouth full, “expecting someone?”. Valerie shakes her head as she looks through the peephole. Giving a dismissive, “neighbour”, to Danny as she opens the door. 

“Hey Vee, landlady wants me to tell you that we’re getting a new neighbour and that if Mr. Leather Jacket wants to stay he needs to sign the lease”. 

At this Danny coughs but quickly composes himself, raising an eyebrow at the lady as she sticks her head past the door. “Oh hello Leather! Great timing! She gave me the paperwork too!”, walking over she hands them to him as he stares. 

Danny quirks an eyebrow, “uh, why doesn’t the landlady do her own work?”. The lady replies cheerily, “because apparently, Vee here scares her. I think she’s sweet if a bit of a loner”, she pauses for a second before sticking her finger in the air animatedly, “oh! she also thinks _you’re_ scary and asks that you not leave ‘red’ footprints in the entranceway”. Both Danny and Valerie pale a little, though the lady can’t really tell with Danny cause he’s already white as a ghost. The lady just keeps on talking, “I don’t have an opinion about you yet myself, since we just met. But you have a really creepy and powerful aura, so I think I’ll just not going to piss you off, kay?”. 

Danny looks around her and points at Valerie, “told you I unnerve people”, before he turns back to the lady who now looks completely horrified. Danny confused, gives a pleasant, “okay and nice to meet you I guess”. The lady immediately books it out of there as she speed walks into her own apartment. 

Danny scratches his head, “well that was odd”, as Valerie just stares at him before walking up and smacking him on the head. Danny flinching away and crying, “what was that for?!”. Valerie puts her hands on her hips, “she saw the back of your shirt you dumbass. How have you managed to terrify both the landlady and the neighbour before even officially moving in?”. Danny smirks, “because I’m horrifying, and so what? I live here now?”. Valerie shakes her head disbelievingly before smiling playfully at him, “of course, this has been your home since you first came over. You just didn’t know it yet”. Danny picks up the papers muttering, “oh you sneaky devil”. Valerie calls back as she heads to get dressed, “the one and only!”.

* * *

“You know what we forgot to do?”, Valerie steps into the bathroom where Danny is putting on what he’s apparently dubbed ‘evil eyeliner’. 

“What? To reanimate my corpse? Wait, no that’s already been done”. 

She flicks his head, “of course not, you’d never forget that. I’m talking about your bandages”. Danny facepalms, “shit yeah, right”, rubbing his neck, “pretty sure I can handle myself Val, so you just finish getting ready”. Valerie rolls her eyes, at this point she doesn’t doubt he can look after himself, still though, “oh Hell no, I want to see just what your so-called extreme ecto-contamination can do”.

So Danny sits down, with a groan, on the toilet, dress shirt off and arms up; as Valerie makes quick work of unwrapping him. Her speaking up after a bit, “so any mild angry break downs you feel like having? Since that happened both other times”. Danny rolls his eyes, “I guess I’m more open when my wounds are too”, Valerie gives him a smack for that as he continues, “but if you want some more fucked up information; Sam, Tuck, and even Jazz, don’t know about what happened with the Fenton’s”. 

Valerie stares at him and realising he’s serious, “yeah that’s pretty fucked, how the Hell does your own sister not know her parents have disowned, assaulted, and chased out her brother. And why haven’t you called any of them?”. She’s not sure if he has avoidance issues or just doesn’t want to make them feel bad. 

Danny shrugs as the last of the bandages come off, “didn’t want to drag them down with my shit. Self-sacrificial and all that”. Danny waves his hand around and then gets up to use the mirror to look at his back. 

Valerie whistles as she sees his fully healed back, “damn, now I am definitely jealous”, she touches his back gingerly, right where there used to be ragged holes. Yup, jealous; but there’s _got_ to be side effects, “does this contamination do anything else to you?”. Danny chuckles, being kinda dead probably qualifies as a pretty big side effect; that’s more of a cause than effect though, “besides setting off some ghost technology, it does a few different things”. 

Valerie sighs as she grabs her makeup, “and let me guess, they’re secret things?”, at Danny’s smirk she continues, “well I’d rather not find out what they are by you getting hurt again”. Danny chuckles, “well it’s not like I plan on it”. He’d rather her not know about _any_ of his injuries. 

Danny walks out into the living room stripping down to get his suit on. By the time Valerie’s done, Danny is checking himself out in the mirror. 

“Like I tried to tell you last night when you disappeared, it turned out damn nice and the white on black, black on white; was a great choice”. 

Danny turns to her grinning like a devil and Valerie really gets to appreciate just how good he actually looks. “What can I say, I know my colours and I wear them proud”, he then ruins her appreciation of him with a pun, “I’d say they’re very _suiting_ ”. Valerie shakes her head, “I know that means something more than just being some awful pun, but we’ve got to get going pretty soon and there’s one more thing I’ve been meaning to do”. 

Danny tilts his head to the side in confusion as Valerie steps up, grabs his hair a bit roughly, pulls his head down, and kisses him. He’s shocked at first but melts into it easily and happily. Pulling away, she pats his chest, “like I said I was an idiot in high school.” Danny puts his head on top of hers, his hands on her arms, “funny thing, Sam and Tuck said _I_ was the idiot”. 

They stay like that for only a little while before Danny pushes her off, “I thought we had to get going?”. Valerie chuckles, “in about half an hour, I kinda also wanted to see what other shirts you’ve got with you. You know, see if any are more suitable?”. Danny frowns, “trust me they’re not, but fine”. 

Danny heads to his bag, pulling out three shirts, turning around he lifts them up with an awkward smile. The first thing Valerie notices is that they’re all practically completely red and that they’re ripped to shreds. “Like I said, they’re not”. Valerie sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, “you’re a walking enigma, Danny”. 

Shaking her head she sits on the couch and pats him over. He tilts his head but obliges, “so we’re just going to go from bloody shirts to honeymoon cuddling?”. Valerie whacks his forehead as she flops down on his chest, forcing him to lay back, “got to go with the flow remember? Though I can’t say I like the implications. You get hurt a lot don’t you”. Danny chuckles, understatement of the week, “I’m a damn pin cushion”. He then pokes her head and says, “poke”, in a tiny voice. Causing both of them to burst out laughing. 

After about twenty minutes Danny groans, “we should probably get up”. 

“Yup”. 

“So”. 

“Fine”.

Valerie pushes herself off his chest and stands up. She quickly fixes her hair in the mirror as Danny gets up and smooths out his suit jacket. Turning the pair go out the door, Valerie first with Danny closing the door behind. Just as Danny’s doing said door closing, neighbour lady comes out, “oh hello again!”, seeing Danny, “uh hi to you too”, looking him up and down, “Leather’s a Suit today, occasion?”. 

Sighing, Valerie tries to fix things, it would be much better if _their_ neighbour didn’t think Danny was a murderer or something, “sadly yeah, death in the family”, patting Danny on the chest, “and he’s harmless, just a clumsy idiot”. The lady smiles awkwardly and warily, “oh that’s just awful! I don’t know about harmless, and you must be pretty damn clumsy Leather. What’s your name anyways?”. 

Danny smirks as Valerie answers before he can say something stupid, “it’s Danny. Well technically Daniel, but no one calls him that”. Making Danny groan and tilt his head back, “that version of my name needs to be _deader_ than I am”. Valerie sighs in fond exasperation, “oh and he has a really dark sense of humour and an abundance of bad puns”. 

The lady lifts an eyebrow, “well I’m the ray of sunshine he needs then. And what about Dan? That sounds like it fits better. Danny’s kind of kiddy”. The lady jerks as she sees his aura literally ripple and radiates even more power. Him snapping with a growl, “ **No. Not Dan. Stick to Leather** ”, even Valerie thinks Danny looks -and sounds- like he’s about to murder someone. So she hurries the conversation along, “it’s always been Danny, but I guess we should get going”.

Danny walks off almost immediately, as Valerie’s heels click to catch up. She waves bye without turning around. The lady just stands there staring after them, “I think I just met a god or a devil, and pissed It off”. Shaking herself off, she slowly goes back into her own apartment muttering, “I wonder if Vee knows that that thing is _definitely_ not human or at least not all human”, closing her door with a shudder.

* * *

“I’m going to guess there’s a story behind that name?”. 

Danny practically tries to melt the sidewalk with his glare, though making sure he doesn’t _actually_ melt the sidewalk via ecto-flames, “easily my worst secret. Don’t bring him or that name up around Tuck, Sam or Jazz. You’ll give them nightmares”. Valerie can tell he’s really serious about this so she nods and doesn’t push him about this ‘Dan’ person. Whatever happened with this person must have been seriously _bad_.

Trying to lighten the mood and avoid bringing an angry boy to a funeral, Valerie nudges him lightly, “it is kind of funny her calling you ‘Leather’ though”. Danny sighs and shakes himself, still looking bothered but clearly trying not to be, “I kinda like it myself. Maybe I should make that my new last name”, giving an only slightly forced smirk, “I’m Leather Danny! The Danny who wears leather! Who’s last name is Leather!”. 

Valerie coughs as she laughs, glad the moods been successfully lightened, “I will hit you if you do that! Though Jesse might love you for it”. Danny pauses in his walking, “so that’s her name...”. Valerie laughs again, “yes, I like how you never asked”. Danny shrugs while they wait at a crosswalk, “just cause I know where she lives doesn’t mean I know her name”. Valerie looks at him, “that’s not a sensical response, Danny”. 

After getting across, Valerie chimes up again, “so what? you’re looking to change your last name? Not that I blame you. But it’ll probably sever any chance of repairing things”. Danny shakes his head sadly, “oh yeah, it’ll be the _nail in the coffin._ But I’m pretty sure it’s past the point of repair, they built an anti-me shield. That must have taken days at least. I don’t think we can go back from that. And honestly?“, shrugging, “I don’t think I even want to”. 

Valerie totally gets that, nodding, “yeah I feel that way sometimes about my dad and he hasn’t been even a tenth as horrible as yours”. Smirking, Danny sighs, “kindred spirits, that’s what we are”. 

Smiling Valerie leans into Danny as the church comes into view, “there you go being deep again”. Valerie knows he’s going to say something stupid when he grins playfully, “hey? Think I should pretend to be in horrific pain the minute we walk in? We are a pair of devils after all”. Said grin only grows when Valerie pushes off him and slaps his chest, “don’t you dare!”. 

As they push through the doors, Danny, like a little shit, chants, “oh, oh, here it comes, here it comes”. Snickering at Valerie’s Danny-is-an-ass facial expression. Her groaning with a truly pained expression, “you’re just _awful_ ”.

Inside the church, there are rows of seats set up and food tables across one side. People mull about, making small talk and catching up with old relatives. Some are making the best of the time, others are in tears. All in all, it’s a pretty regular funeral, if you exclude the half-ghost and ghost hunter couple. 

“Valerie! How are you!”. The pair turn their heads as a boy not much older than the two runs up smiling. The boy continuing once he reaches them, “oh and who’s this? Loverboy hmmmm”. Valerie rolling her eyes, “Tyler this is Danny and Danny this is Tyler”, Valerie moves her hand from one boy to the other. 

Danny shakes Tyler’s hand, “well hi Tyler, welcome to Amity, try not to die”. Valerie facepalms as soon as the words leave his mouth. Tyler, however, actually laughs heartily, “yeah I heard this place is totally ghostly, can’t say if I believe that-“. Both Danny and Valerie cut in with, “believe it”. Tyler laughs again, “wow that’s wild, why would you even stay if that’s true?”.

Danny smirks and Valerie prepares herself for another poor taste joke. “Because we like to hit them, punching death in the face is a truly stellar way to spite the reaper”. Even though she prepared herself she was not ready and gives him the appropriate deep grimace. But Danny continues, “plus I don’t think other towns can handle the ones like us who grew up here”, turning to Valerie, “I mean, apparently Tuck climbed out onto the window ledge of his dorm to clean it better and was genuinely surprised when people freaked out. And Sam’s roommate complains about all the guns and carnivorous plants”. Valerie chuckles, “yeah that sounds about right”, Sam’s greenhouse has always terrified her and Tucker’s always been a fair bit detached from social norms. Turning to Tyler, who is wheezing pretty hard, “basically we’re all used to crazy and danger”. Tyler smiles as he catches his breath, “you guys are great”.

Just then Valerie’s dad comes up, “Valerie”, after looking her up and down, noting the lack of anything ecto he mutters, “good”. Turning his head to Danny, he frowns, “well I can’t say I’m surprised or pleased. But you treated her well last time”. Danny frowns as-well, “you care? Well that’s something”, the sarcastic blunt statement making everyone jerk a little. Valerie looks up at him, “wow, Danny, if I didn’t know better I’d think you knew how to be civil”. 

Danny puts a hand to his chest as he turns his head to her in an over-acted show of mock offence, “this _is_ me being civil. Wait till the puns come out”. Valerie following suit with the over-acting, “oh no, lord save us all! We will be destroyed by lord punnyman!”. 

Damon scoffs and walks away. Danny smirks, “thank Phantom he left”. Tyler, with both eyebrows raised, “what don’t get along with your old man and what was that ‘thank Phantom’? local term or something?”. Valerie sighs as Danny grins like an idiot. Her responding before he can say something _else_ stupid, “my dad’s became a bit of a dick because of differing opinions on ghosts, and Phantom is a famous -or infamous, depending on who you ask- ghost”. Danny, still grinning, gives an eager nod, “yup, some call him a hero, others a menace. Amity Park is basically his haunt”. 

Chuckling, Tyler looks to Danny, “I take it you’re a fan? And what about you Vee?”. Danny grins a bit more, “in a sense, yes. I guess you could say I die for him”, Danny wiggles his eyebrows a bunch. That was pretty literal, he did have to die for Phantom’s existence. While Valerie glares at him, “that’s just awful. Don’t go building shrines, there’s enough of them already”, looking to Tyler, “and my opinion is a bit more mixed. I won’t deny that he’s good, but he’s still a _ghost_ ”. 

Danny rolls his eyes, speaking to Tyler though, “honestly dude, a lot of the ones who grew up here like the monochrome Spook. The local high school is sort of a hot spot, so most of the kids that go there get saved by him at some point”. Tyler smiles and nods a little, “local superhero then, even if he’s dead”. Danny strikes a pose, knees bent and apart, finger on his chin and one eyebrow raised, speaking as dramatically as possible, “or is he?”. Danny instantly returns to a normal pose as Tyler wheezes again, “you sure are something man, maybe I’ll see you around”. 

The two wave to Tyler as he runs up to other people, shouting their names. “Friendly guy huh?”. Valerie chuckles, “yeah Tyler’s pretty great. But do try to behave and not make too much of a scene”. Valerie looks up to Danny’s face and notices he’s staring off somewhere and frowning. As Valerie goes to follow his gaze he says, “I don’t think that will be possible”. 

There across the room, is Jack and Maddie Fenton. Making chummy with some other, likely married, couple. Sighing Valerie looks back to him, “let’s just try to avoid them. I know my dad will behave or just avoid us but I don’t think either of us knows what those two will do”. Still frowning he turns back to her, “I’m cool with that. Commence operation ‘ignore spandex speciesists’ unless they start shit with me, or you for that matter”.

Danny jabs his thumb over to the food tables, Valerie nods and they walk over, “look at you being Mr. Chivalry”. Danny turns and slowly swallows a carrot whole. Making her grimace deeply, “screw Phantom, you’re the menace”. Danny smirks devilishly, “screw Phantom you say-”. Valerie claps a hand over his mouth, “you are not finishing that sentence”. Danny rolls his eyes, Valerie’s hand covering his mouth. 

And that’s how another of Valerie’s cousins finds them, “do I want to know?”, Valerie chuckles as she makes introductions, hand still covering Danny’s mouth as he crosses his arms. “Lillian, Danny. Danny, Lillian. Ignore him, he's trouble”. Danny rolls his eyes again, stepping backwards, Valerie’s hand not moving with him. Turning to Danny, “oh you're no fun”. At Valerie’s pouty face Danny snarks, “I created the word”. Lillian shakes her head, “yeah I’ll be going to your wedding someday”. Making the pair blush slightly. 

Danny looks past Lillian at Maddie, who’s glaring daggers at him. He rolls his eyes as he moves to make sure there’s no one between them to get caught in any potential crossfire. Lillian grabs some food as she waves goodbye, Valerie then notices Danny’s slight panic and increased paranoia, something she’s become all too familiar with. It doesn’t take her long to spot Maddie and the two lock eyes; Valerie makes herself look scary and shakes her head slowly at Maddie. Maddie approaches her anyways as Danny crosses his arms. Maddie doesn’t so much as acknowledge his presence, making a point of looking anywhere he’s not and keeping out of reaching distance. Which just kind of ticks Valerie off just a little bit. 

“Why would a fine human girl like you be around this thi-”. 

Valerie cuts her off, waving her hand dismissively, “I don’t think so, if you're going to be a piece of shit you don’t get to talk, unless you’re going to apologise or be at least not a completely horrible excuse for a person”. 

Maddie glares, scowls, and balls her fists; while Danny tenses for a fight. Maddie starts up again, “It shouldn’t even be allow-”, but is cut off again. Valerie matching the other woman’s scowl and crossing her arms, “nope, shut it. Frankly, if you keep that up I will deck you. Danny’s probably one of the, if not _the_ , best people in Amity Park. You can choke and die for treating him so cruelly”. 

Maddie tries yet again, borderline shaking, “it is not a ‘him’, just a mon-”. Valerie cuts her off again, “fuck off and die. The two of you are the monsters of this story”. 

Maddie starts up again, “how dare you compare me to tha-”, but this time she’s cut off by a fist. To the face. Danny immediately grabs Valerie’s shoulder to hold back the now furious girl. Glaring at his ex-mom, sprawled in shock on the floor; choosing not to waste his voice on her, he instead speaks to Valerie, “that waste of space isn’t worth it, Val. And there’s definitely no way for _that_ to be in my life again. Not after this stunt”. Maddie glares and opens her mouth only for Danny to knock a couple bowls of food on her, “I’m not listening, goodbye and go die”. 

Valerie and Danny stalk off to the other end of the food tables as the crowd just stares at all three of them in shock. Some sending disgusted faces in Maddie’s direction, having overheard the conversation and coming to their own conclusions about what it meant. Danny mutters bitterly, “well that went well”, shaking his head, “even at a funeral they can’t put their shitty biased bigotry to the side”. Valerie sighs and rubs her knuckles, “honestly, I expected her to be better than that for some reason”. 

Danny looks down at her hand, “here give me that”. Valerie looks confused but gives him her throbbing hand anyways. Closing his eyes, Danny puts one hand over top and one underneath, sending out a slow light chill of ice to reduce any swelling. He blinks a couple times as he lets go of her hand, Valerie’s slack-jawed, “I, um, thanks, Danny”. Danny rubs the back of his neck exaggeratedly, as he whispers, “I wasn’t about to let your hand hurt all day because of that”. 

The pair smile at each other as they load up their plates with more free food. As Jack eventually manages to get to his wife and Danny sees them talk out of the corner of his eye; instantly tensing. 

Sitting down at a table with Tyler and some couple from out of town, Danny mutters through a mouth full, “did I ever mention how much I love free food? I’d _die, again,_ and go to my own funeral every week just for it”. Valerie snickers and Tyler speaks up, “you sure do make a lot of death jokes, especially for being at a funeral”. Danny smirks, mouth still full, “that’s the best time for ‘em. Makes them double puns and thus doubles my power”. Too bad he doesn’t actually get power from them, though if he did then he’d probably have more power than he’d know what to do with; which was almost already the case.

Danny stops chewing, no one else really taking note, and suddenly grabs a side plate, spinning around he bats away a high-powered ecto-shot with the plate. Sending the shot into the roof. Shouting, startled, as the blast fizzles out against the roof, “THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!”. Jack stomping over, “you punched my wife, you scum!”. 

Valerie’s glares at the orange jump-suited man, “actually, that was me, because she was being a piece of shit. And now here you are being an even bigger piece of shit”. 

“And that was Its doing! It made you do that! She was warning you about that thing!”. 

Even good guy Tyler looks at least a little furious with Jack. And at last Valerie has had enough, practically jumping out of her seat. She shouts and points angrily, while Danny grips the back of his chair hard enough to make cracks; trying his damnedest to keep his powers and ecto-energy in check, “HOW FUCKING _DARE_ YOU! YOU WERE FUCKING BLESSED TO HAVE HIM AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY THE LITERAL BEST PERSON YOU COULD HAVE POSSIBLY EVER RAISED! ARE YOUR OWN EGOS SO FAR UP YOUR OWN ASSES THAT YOU CAN’T ACCEPT ANYONE DIFFERENT FROM YOU! I NEVER! NEVER THOUGHT THE TWO OF YOU WOULD TURN OUT TO BE SO AWFUL! SO HORRIBLE! DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAT YOUR STUPID BELIEFS!”. She doesn’t even know what their beliefs are or _why_ they’re calling Danny an ‘It’, but she frankly doesn’t give half a damn. Turning away from him, she throws her hands up, “GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE PEOPLE LIKE YOU EVEN EXIST! HELL! AT THIS POINT I DOUBT YOU EVEN QUALIFY AS HUMAN SINCE YOU CLEARLY HAVE NO DAMN HUMANITY! EVEN THE WORST GHOST IS BETTER THAN THE WAY YOU TWO ACT!”. 

Jack is left completely speechless as security decides to usher him and Maddie out; effectively forcing them to leave. While Valerie, fuming, turns back to the table, grabs the rim of her plate, and just shakes, trying to not do anything rash (like brandishing a pistol and shooting them). 

Maddie yells as security drags her away, “THINGS LIKE IT SHOULDN’T EXIST! IT HAS NO PLACE HERE! IT IS ONLY GETTING WHAT IT DESERVES FROM US! IF YOU WEREN'T BLIND YOU’D DO THE SAME! WE’RE DOING YOU A FAVOUR! THAT THING HAS NO RIGHT TO EVEN EXIST IN THIS WORLD! THAT THING SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN CREATED! IT IS A MONSTER! YOU’LL SEE ONE DAY!...”. At this Danny completely crushes and splinters the back of the chair, the loud crack and crunch making everyone look at him. 

Valerie whispers, “Danny”, while still white knuckle gripping her plate, “the chair”. Danny looks down, instantly pulls his hand back, and weakly chuckles, “heh, whoops”. Most of the room, Valerie included, just start laughing at the absurdity of a simple ‘whoops’ in this situation. No one can hear the rest of Maddie’s tirade as her and her husband are pushed into the squad car. 

Valerie slumps back down in her chair and runs her hands down the table. Laughing a bit on the manic side, Danny slowly starts to laugh as well, tears pricking at his eyes all the while. As things die down Tyler leans over to the two of them, “please tell me that wasn’t your parents. Because if so I think they're the worst people I’ve ever heard”. Danny nods at Tyler as he absently chews on a piece of a cupcake.

After all the ceremonies are done, Lillian comes up again, “congrats on creating the most interesting funeral ever. Living with you must be like dating a roller coaster”. Danny smirks, in a much better mood now, though it’s kinda bad a funeral _improving_ someone’s mood, “in my veins flows chaos, not blood”. Valerie smacks him, “then stop spilling chaos all over the apartment”. Danny shoves her playfully, “chaos does what chaos wants!”. The two descend into giggles and a few people smile at them softly. 

Valerie’s dad walks up looking sombre, both Danny and Valerie stop and wait for him to say something, “I’m sorry that happened. If I had known I never would have invited them. I don’t know what they were screaming about but no parent should treat their child like that”, turning to Valerie, “I know we’re not on good terms but if I ever yell even slightly like that I want you to punch me too”, with a nod he walks off. 

Tyler, having watched the interaction, “wow so both of you guys got fucked in the parent department huh?”. They respond in unison, “you have no idea”.

Eventually, everything slows down and people start leaving. While Valerie’s talking to one of her aunties, Danny walks up to the pastor of the church, “I just wanted to say sorry about what happened with the two of them. I didn’t know they’d be here and the person who invited them didn’t know about the problems between us. If anything needs fixing or damages paid, I’ll gladly do what I can but I sadly don’t have any money to give”, it’s not like he has or can get a job. 

The pastor looks at him kindly, “nonsense, you gave your honest word. That’s worth more than money or a helping hand. You are not at fault for the ill behaviours of others and you shouldn’t take the fall for their outburst. A persons actions are their own, and they will have to deal with them in this world or the next. Whether that be at the mercy of god, the devil, or ghosts. As for you, they have no place to judge and try to strike you down, nor do I or any other here. So instead I wish you the best of luck, young lad, and I swear to you that you are not what they claimed you are. You do not carry the eyes of a demon, and they are the only true monsters”. The pastor squeezes his shoulder and pushes him to go back and mingle. And Danny does, a barely visible soft smile on his face.

* * *

On their walk back they don’t talk much, both emotionally exhausted. But once they get back, they both collapse in a heap on the floor. Not bothering to even change. Danny sighs at the ceiling, “every time they’ve spoken they’ve gotten worse. First I was broken, then cursed, then a monster, and now I don’t even get proper pronouns”, looking to Valerie, “thanks for that by the way. Things would have been really bad if I had been the one to lose my shit first”. 

Valerie grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze, “don’t mention it, there was just no way I could stay silent through that, is that seriously what you’ve been dealing with from them?”. He nods solemnly and shifting his feet around some, “not so publicly but yeah. That’s probably why you blew up first. I’m used to handling their bullshit, their biases, their shoddy ‘science’”. The two are silent for a bit, rubbing their fingers against each other’s fingers. Small comforts go a long way somedays and this was one of those days. 

“Hey Danny?”. 

“Yeah?”. 

“You’re a really good person”.

“I know”. 

“Good”.


	5. The Secrets That Power Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny's got some explaining to do.

As soon as Valerie falls asleep, still on the floor, Danny is gone. He flies through the sky so fast that he can’t tell if the water from his eyes is from crying or wind. Going in dips, curves, and loops, he eventually begins to feel at home. Lazily he floats over to the police station, invisibly of course, as he goes in to see the Fenton’s. Arguably it’s stupid to do, but it needs to be done. Things can’t just be left off the way they were. Especially not with him being who he is. Easily able to see them in the dimly lit cell, Jack looks as if he’s still shell shocked while Maddie just looks bored. Figures.

Floating over to the power box, he shorts it out, back-up lights included; sending the entire place into darkness. He zips back to his parents’ holding cell and lands himself down in the corner; letting the green glow of his eyes show. Maddie practically growls as Jack just stares. Maddie speaks coldly, practically a hiss, “what? come to kill us for telling the truth? Of course you are that’s wha-”, she’s cut off as Danny flings green ectoplasm around her mouth and then some around her waist, pinning her back to the bars. All the while Jack just continues to stare. 

Danny speaks up finally while Maddie, muffled, screams at him, “I know you have nothing worth listening to, _Maddie_. So don’t waste your breath. I’m not going to kill you, though Hell knows you might just deserve it”, pausing Danny shifts, his eyes bobbing in the darkness a little, “no, I’m here with words not fists or blasts. I’ll be honest with you, there’s no fixing us after that. Even if I somehow became entirely pure human again, which by the way, I. _Do. Not. Want._ I know you think it’s some ectoplasmic scum talking or taking me over; it’s not, never was, and never will be. It’s just me. The same me I’ve always been, the only difference now is I have responsibilities and there are people I have to protect. I can’t really afford for you to distract me when I’m helping someone, people could _die_ ”, sighing, “so here I am, making my peace and telling you to either leave me be, accept me, or get out of my city. If I have to force you out I will, there are things more important than what you think and your bullshit theories”, he pauses for a second to make sure that ultimatum sinks in, “and just to make things clear, I _can’t_ control people. What happened back there was genuine, no one is on your side in this. Even the Red Huntress won’t be and she became a hunter purely to kill me. So even someone who made it their _life’s mission_ to specifically kill me, won’t try to anymore. Because even she was able to see past her false beliefs and realise that she had been wrong. And the thing that makes me sad is it’s not just me you’re hurting here and losing. It’s Val, Sam, Tuck, and even Jazz. If you think Jazz is going to agree with you, you’re wrong. She already knew, she’s known for _years_. And she protected me from you, _they all have_ ”, he knows he’s running the risk of getting his girlfriend, friends, and sister in trouble, but if they were here they’d tell them this themselves. And probably much more confrontationally, “Tuck’s why none of your stuff could track me. Jazz is why some would disappear and the one who made so many cover stories. Sam’s the one who patched me up when I bled all over myself. And now Val’s here, speaking for me when you won’t listen and understanding rejection like no other can. You know the suit I was wearing? That’s the one you destroyed, she broke in and stole it; spent the night patching it up. All so I’d look good, so my outside would reflect what’s inside. And that’s the thing, no matter what you think or feel. I, and many full ghosts, am good. Irrefutably _good_. Your theories are _wrong_ ”, shifting some and floating down to the floor so he’s more on eye level with them. Pushing down his emotions so he can get this point across, “but I’ll tell you the story, a story you’ve never gotten to know about. It’s the story of Dan. Dan was me if I was evil. Dan would be me now if your theories were actually right. If your words were true, you’d being dealing with Dan, not Danny. And you would be _dead_. Along with everyone and everything else. See in his time, being as evil and powerful as he was, he destroyed everyone and everything. Even mutilated or killed every ghost he got his hands on. Amity Park even had a super shield built specifically to keep him out and he destroyed it. He would have destroyed this timeline as-well if it wasn’t for a good ghosts intervention”, pausing purely to breathe and silently sending a massive ‘thank you’ to ClockWork, “so you do not want your theories to be right, because if they were you’d all be dead. I also don’t want you feeling bad, if you ever muster up the decency to do so. Because me becoming this way? Is honestly the best thing that could have happened to me. I can really help people now and yes the power’s great and all, but I would and have intentionally weakened myself for the good of others. There’s a reason Sam always calls me a self-sacrificial fool. Why Jazz says I have a hero-complex. Why Tuck pats my chest saying I have a heart and Core of pure icy gold. And why Val feels the need to point out that I’m just ‘a really damn good dude’. Because in the end, if the world began to shatter apart, I would give my everything to save it. Can you say the same?”.

Danny gets up to leave but Jack speaks up, “wait”. So Danny does, while Maddie just glares at Jack. Jack clears his throat roughly, “we’re firm in our science, ghosts are evil monsters. Always. And that includes you. Half thing or not. That belief will never change and we can’t accept you as a monster”. Jack pauses as Danny responds immediately, “I know, I always did. That’s why I never told you. Because I knew you’d just see a monster, even where there wasn’t one. I hoped for acceptance, yes, but I never expected it. So what will you do now?”.

It’s silent for a bit before the man speaks up, “I’m not going to hunt you, you’ll be left alone”, with that Jack looks away from the glowing green eyes to the floor. Danny eyes Maddie for a second before dissolving the gag. Her snapping at him immediately, “you are ectoplasmic scum and all you say is lies. But I’ll respect my husbands' wishes, you won’t be hunted; even though you deserve to be”, scowling meanly, “why don’t you just go to the Ghost Zone where you belong”. 

Danny smirks though she doesn’t see it, “because I’m a halfa. A being of both worlds. I belong to both. I belong there and I belong here. And Amity Park is my home, so that’s where I’ll be. I anticipate that we’ll see each other again of course but I fully expect you to just ignore me, like I’m not there. I’ll do the same to you unless you address me. Let me just be a _phantom_ of your past”. With that Danny finally flies off, shooting through the ceiling; the workers there eventually get the power and light running again but no one ever figured out what happened.

* * *

By the time he gets home Valerie is already up and she is supremely _not happy._ Opening the door, which once again has a magically locked deadbolt, she yanks Danny through the threshold, “WHAT THE HELL DANNY! Do you have any idea how worried I was?! I thought you went off and did something stupid! I was literally seconds away from going on my board looking for you!”, pausing as she takes in Danny smile, “and what the Hell are you smiling for?! I’m giving you shit!”. 

Danny chuckles, “I _did_ kinda do something stupid but it turned out really well. The Fenton’s aren’t going to bug me anymore”. Valerie goes wide-eyed just as Danny slaps his own face realising how that statement sounded. “Please tell me I do not have to help cover up a murder, Danny”. 

Danny groans with a laugh at the end, “Ancients no, I busted into jail and had a talk with them, though I had to restrain Maddie”, chuckling, “though I like how you jumped straight to ‘I’ll bury a body for you’ not ‘what the fuck, get out my house, I’m calling the cops’”. Valerie goes even more wide-eyed, “Danny that’s almost _worse_! Why the Hell did you do that alone! You could have gotten me up!”, glaring, “and when have I ever seemed like a damn snitch?”. Danny holds up his hands in surrender, “never! Just most people would have called the cops”, she rolls her eyes as he shakes his head and continues, “and no, it had to be just me and well, my secrets. I said what I had to say and got them to agree to leave me alone. To act like I'm not even here. And I’ll do the same to them unless they talk to me first”. 

Valerie sighs as she grabs some pop tarts, “I’m glad that it worked out but that was still stupid. And I’m guessing the reason you didn’t tell me is ‘cause you knew I’d follow”. Danny smirks, nodding. He couldn’t think of a single reason why she wouldn’t follow him. Valerie grumbles, “well you could have at least left a note saying you’d be back”, as the pop tarts pop out. Handing one to Danny they sit at the table. 

They both manage to eat a few bites before Valerie asks, “what exactly was it that you did to my hand?”. Danny puts down his pop tart and holds his hands palm up, keeping his eyes opened this time. There’s no point in not showing her, he _trusts her_ , and if he doesn’t he’ll probably wreck what they’ve built. 

Valerie watches as his eyes glow blue and a thin layer of frost forms on his hands. “Holy crap Danny, you actually have full-on powers!”. Danny chuckles as he offers his hand to her to feel which she does almost frantically. Tracing her finger over the cold frost, it almost feels like fuzz, “why doesn’t it melt when I touch it? Frost normally does?”. Danny smiles as it all suddenly melts into a small pool of water, “because I’m stopping it from doing so”. Valerie shakes her head in amazement, “can you do this with all ice or just what you create?”. Is it weird? Yes. But it doesn’t seem to be hurting him. 

“Just what I create”.

Danny goes back to eating his pop tart, which is now cold, at which Danny grumbles, “I can’t, however, heat things up”, at least not without also setting it on fire. Which would just result in a very burnt pop tart here. Valerie rolls her eyes laughing a little as Danny grumpily eats his (cold)pop tart. 

Valerie, wiping her hands off on her pants, goes to put away the plate, “I’m going to take a guess that you have more abilities, Danny. And that that’s why the Fenton’s are being so horrible?”. Danny sighs, opening his mouth to speak just as his ghost sense goes off -Valerie watching his breath in the air- and a ghost floats straight up through the floor. 

Valerie instantly summons her suit and aims to fire at the ghost but Danny jumps up, slamming a hand on her chest as he shouts, putting some power behind it, “ **NO! Do not do that!** ”. Snapping his head over to the floating ghost, and continuing to speak with the powerful tone while also being commanding in a rather _unfriendly_ way, **“why are you here, _Observant_** ”. All the while Valerie looks to him in shock. 

“The Artisifant Niemond Falling Kings Decree and the Royals Moving Seal have been broken. And an attempted violation of both the Black Recessive Cardinal and Gray Heart Cardinal of The Law Of Ages has occurred. I’m certain you know the implications of that”. 

Danny glares at the Observant, “I’m aware. There’s already been punishments and I know you know that. **You aren’t needed** ”. Valerie is too startled to really say anything as hundreds of confusing questions rattle around her skull. 

“What’s been done hardly qualifies as enough. However, we believe there to be an easy solution”. With that, the Observant produces two strange crystals from their cloak and holds them out to Danny. 

Danny grabs them in his fingers and rubs his fingers over them with a look of mild shock, eyes looking far away for a second. Looking back to the Observant, “I see. I can’t say I agree but I can’t say I disagree. Though I can say it is just, so I’ll accept your request. **Now** -”, smirking faintly though without any real humour, “- **care to _observe_ the door**”. The Observant speaks as they float up through the ceiling, “three days, though we know it won’t take so long”. 

Danny stares at the ceiling for a bit, rolling the crystals in his fingers before he slouches back into his chair again; seemingly deflating. Putting the crystals on the table as he sits and stares at them, pop tart forgotten. 

Valerie deactivates her suit and turns to Danny, wide-eyed, “I don’t even know where or how to begin, Danny”. Sighing, he looks up to her, suddenly seeming far older, “I don’t think I even can explain most of that but just, if you ever see a ghost like that. Do. Not. Attack. Them. I’m certain you would have been fine this time but think of those guys as something like judge and jury, something like the government supreme justice system but more absolute”. 

Valerie slowly eases back into her chair, “you mean to tell me, that not only is there ghost government but also that you’ve met them before? And why the Hell did you _accept_ that from them?! Better yet, why weren’t you freaking out or afraid! Danny WHAT THE HELL!?”. 

Danny cautiously picks up the crystals and rolls them in his fingers again, “yeah there is, they usually only get involved with really big things. But also might if anything above Exterial Law is broken. Which two have been, that’s what they meant by all those big long fancy words. I accepted the crystals because they’re the punishment and because they’re for the Fenton’s. They’re the ones who broke the law and they made me so, it’s my right to do it myself”. Danny finishes as he shoves the crystals into his jacket pocket. Course it was only his right because he technically trumped the Observants in regards to the law. Sorta anyway. 

Groaning Valerie rubs her temples, “what the Hell did they do now? and this still doesn’t answer my other question. Why the Hell were you so calm and commanding?”, she’s not going to bother asking how the Hell he even _knows_ this shit; he grew up surrounded by ghost crap. 

Danny rubs at his neck, “you actually saw what they did, the second Jack shot at me with intent to kill he broke both laws. Maddie would be considered complacent. And-”. Valerie cuts him off waving her hands back and forth, “woah woah woah hold on, I think I need to know what _exactly_ these laws are and why that’s what broke them? Is it, like, illegal for ghost hunters to try to kill their kids or something? Or to try to kill someone at a funeral? Which I mean yeah, that _should_ be illegal but why would ghost court, or whatever, be involved?”. 

Danny puts his hands on the table sighing, “yeah no, that’s not even close”, tilting his head, “though it is a crime to kill someone at a ghosts funeral”, shaking his head, “anyway, the two laws they broke have to do with a lot of my secrets but the easiest way to put it right now is that they both protect me in that it is illegal for any human being, knowing a specific secret of mine, to try and explicitly kill me. Which Jack did. And the two laws they almost broke have to do with some, uh, less than legal things involving the whole trying to forcibly fix me thing; which I’d really rather not talk about”, looking to the side and grimacing. 

Valerie sits with her mouth open and mutters incoherently a bit before speaking, “you don’t have to explain that last bit, but you’re seriously specifically protected under ghost law? How the Hell? Why? When?”, Valerie shakes her head as Danny gives her a very awkward smirk. Danny runs a hand through his hair, “yeah and I can’t really answer that without spilling the dead on that secret”, looking down at the table for a beat before muttering seemingly to himself, “eh fuck it”, then looking back to her, “honestly? At this point I might as well, I do trust you”. 

Valerie sighs, and scoots her chair next to him, “and I’m glad for that, but I need to know first if this is the one the Fenton’s freaked over?”. Danny shakes his head so she continues, “alright so it’s less big then. Which is kind of worrying but I ain’t going anywhere, Danny. So spill”. 

Danny sighs as he thinks of how to word this right, eventually he decides there is no way -like usual- and just goes for it, “you remember how I said I had it on good opinion that I would become a full-on ghost?”, Valerie nods and elbows him encouragingly, “well there’s a reason for that. Once I truly do die, which is not happening any time soon. I, well, I’mslatedtobecomethenewhighghostking”, the last bit comes out rushed in his nervous panic. Valerie’s eyes are large as saucers, “Danny, what, that, you, huh? Why would? Holy Hell. So what? You’re, like, what? A, a Prince? Of... ghosts? How is that? What?-”. Danny cuts off her rambling, “that’s pretty much how I responded when I was told”. Well not really, he actually told the Observant to ‘go fuck yourself, you all seeing puck stick’ since he didn’t think they were actually serious and was barely awake. Now when _ClockWork_ confirmed it, he sputtered like a damn fool and made stupid hand gestures. Then he asked a bazillion times if anyone was going to start trying to assassinate him to make him ‘rise to his throne’; thankfully that answer was a solid ‘no’.

Patting her shoulder he tries to give a reassuring smile, Valerie still looks shaken. Understandable. So he just keeps on talking, “this is one of those things I don’t really have a choice in but I’m completely okay with it, okay? So I guess try not to be too freaked out or look at me different, please?”, he hopes that didn’t sound too pleading. 

Valerie puts her forehead on the table and clasps her hands over her head. Talking into the table, “I’ll try not to be too freaked but I’m definitely freaked. Sounds like the only reason you aren’t is ‘cause you got used to the knowledge, so I guess I’ll need some time with that information”. Lifting her head up she hugs Danny around the neck, lifting off the chair a bit due to his height, “you’re still you though, Danny. Even if your afterlife is going to be crazy. You’re still the same Danny to me, Hell, I'm guessing you’ve been a prince, or whatever, the whole time you’ve been here”, pointing at him, “though this time I’m serious, you better not cause any trouble as a ghost”. Valerie light-heartedly glares at Danny as she lets go of him, still frazzled.

“I don’t intend to”, Danny chuckles, “Ancients, even _Pariah_ didn’t cause problems in the human world till someone stole his shit. And he was a tyrannical mad man”, shaking his head, Valerie lets him finish before asking her question. “But yeah I have been a prince the whole time, I’m sure you’ve noticed over the past years that the amount of ghost attacks have dropped drastically. That’s because of me getting slated as the prince. I was given the position and told the day I turned eighteen”. 

Valerie goes a bit wide-eyed but it’s not as shocking as all the previous stuff, “well thanks I guess, that must have been one Hell of a birthday present. Also, I’m starting to get the feeling that you’re not nearly as fearful of ghosts as I or anyone else thinks, Danny? And do you, like, have to learn ghost history or something? Because I fought against Pariah’s army and I know nothing about him”. Danny shrugs and rubs his neck, “you’re not wrong, I was basically shell shocked on my bed for the rest of the day. And I’ve never actually been afraid of any ghosts, well, excluding one. But I can’t really explain why without more corpse spilling and I think you might lose your mind if I do that. And yeah I’m basically expected to know my shit before my arrival or whatever”. 

Valerie nods and slugs him weakly in the shoulder, “I think I’m going to have to agree with you. This is a lot and I’m definitely sure your main secret is bigger. So save it for another day”, pointing a bit aggressively at him, “but I do still want to know”, then sighing, “and Danny, you’re going to give me a heart attack if you start making a habit of just going up and talking to ghosts like that. So maybe a rundown of who’s under you or allies or whatever the right words are”. 

Danny can’t help but laugh at that, wheezing as he puts his head in his arms. Valerie can’t help but laugh a bit too, laughing out her remaining nerves. Danny shakes his head with a chuckle after a while, “Val, _everyone_ will be under me technically. Until then no one actually is. Some just listen out of respect and fear for their future safety or whatever. But yeah there are allies and the Observants, who are dicks but stupid to attack. For _actual_ allies, there’s Clockwork, Frostbite and his entire clan, Pandora, and Dora plus her people. But they rarely leave the ghost zone so. Oh Wulf too, who you’re much more likely to see but he’ll run away if he doesn’t know you’re safe”, he’s only including the ghosts he’s genuinely close to.

Valerie grabs his shoulder, “wait so you’ve been to the Ghost Zone? Well, okay I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, you probably had to or something. But I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard of any of those ghosts”, she’s not sure if that’s good or bad. Then tilting her head, “wait no, Pandora’s that four-armed ghost that gave The Box Ghost a thrashing”. Danny nods with a laugh, “yup!”, then chuckling, “and kinda hard to wind up in ghost prison without going there!”, Danny pauses and slaps his face, “okay so that just came out. Heh. But I’m not surprised you haven’t. They all keep to themselves. But you have actually also met Dora. You remember when there was that beauty contest? Yeah, Dora hosted it. Long story; Sam basically got abducted, almost forced to marry a ghost, and liberated a kingdom”. 

Valerie rubs her temples, “how many crazy stories do you have? God, everyone in our school has been though some crazy bullshit. And prison Danny? What the Hell did you do? And yes I still want you to explain the other three allies”. Danny nods, “yeah”, clearing his throat, “okay, basically there are two kinds of prisons in the Zone. One being Walking prisons, and they can kinda just create their own laws. There’s one near the Fenton portal and it’s all kinds of batshit crazy. Walker, the warden there, banned the possession of ‘real-world items’. So he threw me in his jail with a bullshit _two thousand year_ sentence”. Valerie mutters, “Jesus fucking Christ, that’s excessive... and impossible to serve”. Danny shrugs and decides against pointing out that’s incorrect for him, instead just continuing, “tell me about it. Anyway, so with me being, well, _me_ , I staged a breakout and effectively freed _everyone_ ; if Walker had it his way I’d still be there right now”.

Valerie shakes her head, “well fuck him”. She’s glad he’s not still stuck in a freaking ghost prison, and if he ever gets stuck there again she’d gladly help him stage another breakout. 

Danny chuckles, “agreed. Walker sucks”, shifting a little and eyeballing his hands, “for FrostBite I guess it’s a good thing I showed you the ice thing”, chuckling at Valerie’s raised eyebrow, “Frostbite and his people all have ice powers. Like mine. Basically the downside to it is if you don’t use it enough you’ll turn yourself into a popsicle. Basically, I nearly froze myself to death and they saved my ass. Oh and just because I want to see your reaction, they worship me”. 

Valerie bursts out laughing and falls out of her chair, “you’re serious?”. Danny nods with a wide smile, looking down at her, “yup they call me ‘The Great One’ and literally _will not_ call me anything else”. Valerie laughs even harder as Danny helps her up, “that- that is _insane_. I’m glad they helped you though and don’t you _dare_ freeze yourself again, you idiot”. Danny grins as Valerie slaps his shoulder, “fuck that, that was not fun. Sam still hasn’t forgiven me for killing her plant. I make sure to not let it build up. That’s why I’m so good at it”.

Valerie shakes her head, “let's go to the living room before I hurt myself... again”. Danny smirks as he hops to the living room, Valerie can tell he’s happy to have at least some secrets lifted off him. Even if she is nervous about the big one. Or maybe he just likes talking about his ghost friends. On the way there Danny quickly explains Wulf, “Wulf, is pretty simple. He’s a scary looking werewolf who can tear holes into and out of the Ghost Zone. I helped him get away from Walker. And he helped me save an entire class of kids. Oh and he only speaks Esperanto”. Danny plops down on the floor just after he finishes. While Valerie shakes her head, “I don’t like scary looking but that’s ghosts for you, if he helped save some kids he’s good in my book. That power is startling though”. 

Danny puts his arms behind him and leans back into the foot of the couch, “yeah, he’s a general good guy. Pretty much just uses his power to be a vagabond and avoid Walker”. Sighing, “now Clockwork is... a _complicated_ ghost. The best way to describe them is that they’re a good neutral that just wants to see the universe go along its best path. But they’re the one I’m closest with, they’re kind of like my mentor, I guess. Even if they're really mysterious about everything”. Danny smiles a bit fondly as Valerie shakes her head and teases him a little, “my boyfriend is a criminal and has a ghost for a mentor, what has the word come to”. 

Danny quirks an eyebrow and teases right back, “oh so I’m your boyfriend now?”. Valerie smacks him and rolls her eyes, “duh, now how the heck did you come to have a ghost for a mentor”. Danny instantly frowns, “Dan”. Valerie instantly stiffens, “oh, okay yeah you don’t have to explain that”. Considering how severely negatively he responded to just this ‘Dan’s’ _name_ , she’s not going to make him talk about something that upsetting. 

Danny shakes his head and steels himself, “no, I kind of do. It also explains how I first heard of the Observants and has to do with the crystals. I’m sparing details though, because I’m not going there and don't want to overwhelm you”. Valerie nods, she has a feeling she’s not ready for this but it involves too much. Danny readjusts before starting and looks to the ceiling, “anyways, you know how I’m a good person, right? Well imagine if I wasn’t and became a full-blown ghost at fourteen”, Danny glances to her and just waits for a response, verging on panic. 

She frowns a little, “that’s kind of hard to picture, Danny. And you’re talking about, like, alternate realities, so I’m already kind of confused”. 

Danny sighs slightly humoured but he’s still tense, “that’s ClockWork for you. They are the ghost of time. I think their official title is the Lord Of Time. So they can see the timeline, past, present, and all possible futures. It’s their job to keep the timeline stable. They also do the Observant's dirty work for bigger things. And Dan was one of those bigger things”. Valerie shakes her head, “yeah I’m not picking a fight with anyone like that, that kind of power is on a whole nother level. And I’ll admit, I’m still confused”. She’d have to have a death wish to fight someone who’s basically omniscient. 

Danny rubs his neck, “yeah I never really talk about them since they’re confusing and they like to keep their existence mostly a secret. But also you couldn’t pick a fight with Clockwork. They can literally stop time”. Valerie goes wide-eyed, “that’s _terrifying_ Danny. I didn’t know ghosts could even be _that_ powerful”, forget omniscient, that’s a _god_. 

Valerie shudders a bit as Danny continues, “yeah and if the Observants had it their way ClockWork would have killed me. That’s what they tasked them with, destroying me so Dan would never exist”. 

Valerie starts waving her hands back and forth again to make him pause, “hold on, the guy who became mentor originally tried to kill you?! The fuck Danny?”. Danny rubs his neck sheepishly, “they had good reasons and they knew what would happen. Basically, in the future - _not_ an alternate reality or dimension- shit happened, bad shit, horribly fucked up shit. And I became evil and a full-blown ghost because of it and started calling myself Dan-”. 

Valerie holds up a hand to pause him again, “wait, you were supposed to become evil? Again that’s really hard to imagine, Danny”. If anyone were to ask, she’d say an ‘evil Danny’ would be simply impossible. 

Danny stares out the window and nods slowly but continues, “the Observants summed it up like this, ‘most evil and powerful ghost in existence’. So whatever you can imagine it’s so so much worse. I got to see him and what he had done by age twenty-four in the future. Simply put, there wasn’t much left of humanity or the Ghost Zone”. At this point, Danny’s shoulders are hunched and his hands are shaking a bit, while Valerie is completely still. 

Valerie whispers after a while, “Jesus Christ Danny”. Danny just nods, still looking out the window, “Clockwork and I basically made sure that future wouldn’t happen. Preventing the thing that caused me to turn evil. But since Clockwork actually cheated to do that Dan still exists outside of time, just trapped. Which made me and Dan, their responsibility. Became my legal ghostly guardian. And thus, they’re my mentor”.

Danny turns his head to the direction of his jacket, slumped over a kitchen chair, and nods his head at it as Valerie watches his face. She’s glad that he is freaked out by his apparent evil self so much, but she also doesn’t like how crushed and shaky he looks. While he keeps going, “that’s what’s in those crystals, images of Dan and everything he did. If I understand the Observants right, it’s to completely terrify the Fenton’s from doing anything that might push me too far. That and give them nightmares”, Danny closes his eyes and rests his chin on his knees pulled tight to his chest. He truly hates thinking or talking about what could have been, about what he could be becoming. If not now, then maybe someday. But he trusts ClockWork, and they don’t want that for him or the universe.

Valerie squeezes her eyes shut, Danny was talking like one wrong move and he suddenly becomes a literal evil monster. Him calling himself a monster, not refuting other people -the Fenton’s- calling him one; made a lot more sense now, but was also so much more worrying and depressing. She truly hates encouraging that but she has to know if him being ‘evil’ is actually possible. So she speaks up after a few seconds; her voice shaky and laced with genuine worry, “so you, you could still become like that?”. 

Danny just shrugs, unable to give her or himself any kind of absolute, “Clockwork says they can’t see it in any future but I don’t know. It’s easily the thing I’m most paranoid about. I’ll freak out a bit if I even use the same words he did”, taking a breath, “‘inevitable’ is probably the worst one. Sam, Tuck, and Jazz will flinch from it too. I’d prefer if everyone would forget that word existed”, sighing, “and promises mean a lot more to me now because of Dan. Promising not to become him was the first truly genuine promise I ever made, so every promise since holds the same weight”. Valerie just nods, she honestly can’t remember the last time Danny promised something explicitly. He’d just say he ‘wasn’t planning to’ or that he’ll ‘make sure to’, he’d avoid promising things; and now she knew why. Trauma. This also explained why he reacted so poorly to being _called_ ‘Dan’ and Jesse saying the name ‘suited him better’.

Danny squeezes his knees with his hands before continuing, “it was easier to ignore the possibility of him when I was young, ‘cause we looked so different. I was a skinny kid and shorter than almost everyone, and he was this massively tall muscle-bound nightmare. But now I’m the same height and build, same voice. Sometimes I’d spend hours looking in the mirror, wondering what the Hell I had become”, sometimes he almost hated that he had become comfortable and normalised with seeing Dan in the mirror. He took a level of comfort from his ghost form not looking just like him. But he knows that’s what he’ll look like when he finally keels over. “When I die, the only difference physically between me and him will be a crown, ring, royal cape, and my eyes”, and he knows the best thing he can do for himself is get used to that fact and that fucking _sucks_. He feels like he’s practically vibrating now, tears pricking at his eyes and occasionally tracing down his face. 

And even though Valerie can’t see any tears she knows they’re there. Is this why he never wears anything form-fitting? Was the ratty clothing more than just due to having been homeless? That can’t be healthy and he damn well needs some positives here. Rubbing his back, feeling how his muscles tense almost immediately like he doesn’t want to be touched; doesn’t want her ‘touching Dan’s body’. Which is some self-deprecating bullshit she is not about to let fly, so she rubs his back some more, “you are good, Danny. Looks don’t determine anything. Based on what I’ve heard about Clockwork I think you should believe them. I think they’re right”, Valerie leans on him then and squeezes his shoulders, making a point to smile against his skin, “and just so you know, I like this body of yours. It’s your body and it’s a pretty damn good one. Regardless of it matching some other assholes”, making a damn point to trace her finger over the rises and falls of his arm; trying to bleed loving at him. And she does mean what she says, Danny absolutely had a nice body; many girls would probably kill for a boy with a body like his. The fact that he gets ogled as much as he does, even with the unflattering clothing, really just confirms that. 

Danny lifts his head up a bit and moves his right hand to stare at it, splaying his fingers apart, “ _Val_ , you were there too, in that awful future. You fought Dan like an honest badass. But... I watched him _kill you._ I literally saw these same hands _choke you_ and _throw you through a building_ ”, and puts his forehead back onto his knees. 

Valerie resists muttering ‘Jesus Christ’, that isn’t what he needs and that won’t help anything. Instead, she puts her hand over his and wraps her fingers around that large hand. They’re strong, a bit rough, with chipped fingernails and a small cut under the pinky. “These are your hands, they’re strong and sturdy. They help people and I like when they touch me. I like holding them in my own and I like when they hold me; neck included. If you were Dan, if you were cruel or violent, if you were anything like that, if you were a monster; then I wouldn’t. But you’re not those things, you’re not a monster and I genuinely believe you’d never let yourself become one. And if this ClockWork is responsible for you, then they won’t let you either”. 

He gives a breathless hollow laugh but nods a little, “yeah, they- they did defy the laws of temporal displacement for me”, closing his finger over hers and giving them a slight squeeze; hyper-aware of having to be careful to reign in his strength, “thank you”. 

Valerie rolls her eyes, “I don’t usually thank people for using a bunch of words to call me a dumbass”. He snorts at that. “You okay now?”. 

“Not really, no”. 

She nods and makes a point to snuggle into him, “understandable. Love you still”. Danny turns his head and leans it over hers, nodding, “yeah” ... “yeah” ... “I’m... pretty sure I love you too”. They’re both content to sit in silence after that. 

Danny falls asleep a short while after that, but Valerie can tell it’s not a peaceful one; as he twitches and grimaces. She gets and throws one of the soft microfibre blankets over his shoulders, those things could be a godsend at times. Then moving to sit at the table, needing some time to just think and not wanting to disturb Danny.

Muttering down at her tea while she plays with the handle some, “it’s hard to believe he could ever be evil but with how he reacted I know it has to be true. And to hear that he’s going to be that powerful as a ghost is pretty terrifying, adding in the king thing it’s even more daunting”. Valerie shivers as she takes a sip of her tea, “I don't think there’s anything I could do to stop him if he did go evil. He pretty much said I couldn’t”, sighing, “I mean, I would still try, see if I could get him to be...”, staring down at her tea again, “be what? Normal? I don’t think I actually _know_ what normal even is for a ghost anymore. I mean, I’ve known that ghosts can be good for a long time now but still”.

Shaking her head as she finishes her tea, “regardless, I’m here for him. Good, bad, or something in-between”, nodding her head before sighing, “though I’m definitely going to call him on any ‘evil’ behaviour”. She doesn’t put the cup into the dishwasher, in case the noise wakes him, “I seriously hope he doesn’t have any more stories or secrets that are even close to that”.

Suddenly she hears an unfamiliar voice, “hello, Valerie”, the ghostly echo making it clear this is a ghost. Valerie spins around instantly, activating her suit and pointing a blaster at the newcomer, who smiles playfully as she suddenly can’t move. The strange old ghost moves to the side and drapes a strange necklace around her neck. But she doesn’t move for a bit after she lowers her arm. 

Retracting her helmet and staring unabashedly at them, “you’re ClockWork aren’t you?”, they definitely _look_ like old man time. Their smile widens, more soft than playful, “indeed, I’m always glad to hear Daniel speak fondly of me. And you have grown a lot yourself, little Hunter”. Valerie nods still not sure how someone’s supposed to act around a ghost in such a mundane setting, “he thinks a lot of you. Though you better be telling the truth to him about his future”.

Valerie is slightly startled as they go from elderly to a small child. Somehow that makes their smile look more menacing, “until his ice was stabilised it was still a more than likely possibility. There was very few futures wherein he did not become evil. That is no longer the case. His ice being able to stabilise is a reflection of himself becoming stabilised”. Valerie smiles slightly and tries to force herself to relax, the waves of power coming off ClockWork doesn’t help though, “was this ‘Dan’ really that evil?”, she’d like to know if Danny’s probable trauma is influencing his opinion. 

With a smirk, an adult ClockWork replies, “evil is a relative nebulous thing. It moves in values relative to the speakers' morals. You could say he is more evil to Daniel than to me or to The Box Ghost. But the Observants have no such influences. So you decide what the answer you’re looking for is”. Valerie can’t help but look confused, her mouth opening slightly before she speaks, “I think you fit Danny well, you’re both enigmas”, shaking her head, biting her lip slightly, “and can Danny seriously become so powerful without also becoming evil?”, she doesn’t need to ask to know that ‘high ghost king’ equals powerful. Pariah was practically what she would have called the definition of raw power after all. 

The playful smile returns on the elderly ghost, “that really is the question of the day isn’t it? Why don’t you ask that neighbour of yours”. Just as Valerie’s going to ask what they mean, ClockWork vanishes and she notices the clock on the wall start moving again. The last she hears of them is ‘time in’. 

Looking around she shakes her head and deactivates her suit. Putting a hand on the table to steady herself, “what the Hell is that supposed to mean, you weird-ass? How does Danny tolerate that? Do they always show up and leave randomly?”, shaking her head again she goes to check on Danny. She also feels a little paranoid and suspicious of Jesse now. Though maybe the ghost was just being a little shit, she’ll have to ask if ClockWork is the trickster type. At least Danny seems okay, he looks at least somewhat peaceful; that’s the miracles of microfibre right there. 

God she needs another cup of tea.


	6. Crystal Nightmares And Medium Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse throws everyone through a loop and Danny goes off to 'deal with' the Fenton's mess.

By the time Danny wakes up, Valerie is on her third cup of tea. He moves so silently she doesn’t hear him come in till he sits down across from her. Causing her to jolt up and nearly spill her tea. Him immediately muttering, “shit sorry”, as he starts eating a bagel and starts the coffee. Valerie shakes her head, “what? is moving silently another thing you can do?”. Danny smirks at that causing Valerie to sigh as he speaks around his food, “Jazz always found it creepy but yes. And _they_ always talked about how it would make me a great hunter”, Danny rolls his eyes, picking at his bagel. 

“I think being a hunter would be bad for your health in so many ways Danny. Oh and that ClockWork guy showed up and confused the Hell out of me. How do you deal with them?”.

Danny chokes on his bagel slightly as he snaps his eyes up to Valerie, then, with a defeated sigh, “of course the cheeky bastard did, I should have seen that coming. I’m pretty sure they like to confuse people, so don’t give them the satisfaction by admitting it to their face. I would ask what they said but since they waited for me to fall asleep it was obviously meant for you”. Valerie eyes his fond smile and chuckles to herself, “you know them that well huh? And thanks for the advice. Though I don’t think I could handle them alone for long periods of time”. So that was a yes on the whole trickster thing, doesn’t mean they lied to her though. She has a feeling they freak people out with the truth and riddles rather than lying. 

Danny laughs, “the first time I met them they went on about how time moves and then basically insulted me for being a kid. Though I did try to punch them so...”. Valerie nearly spits out her tea at that, did Danny have zero sense of self-preservation?, “why the Hell would you do that? That ghost literally _leaks_ power! Are you really _that_ unafraid of ghosts? Which, by the way, I’m still curious about that”. Valerie notices that Danny looks completely confused, him tilting his head, “they do? I’ve never noticed that. I mean sure Clocky just seems stronger than other ghosts and has a wise air about them but I definitely don’t feel like I’m standing next to some super-powerful thing”. 

Valerie just looks at him slack-jawed, “what about other people who’ve been around them? Were they just being a dick?”. Danny shrugs, “Sam and Tuck have but I’ve never asked them what ClockWork feels like? And it’s more likely that they were discouraging you from attacking them. Though I guess it makes sense for people to be able to feel or who knows, see, ghostly auras, a ghosts ecto-field, if it’s strong enough or if the ghost lets you”. Valerie suddenly goes wide-eyed, “that's what they meant!”. Danny looks even more confused than before, “okay? Now I’m the confused one, but glad to help explain the mystery that is ClockWork”, eh, knowing ClockWork he’ll figure it out when the _time_ is right.

She smiles at him fondly, it said a lot that he, an enigma, considered ClockWork to be a mystery. Glancing to the door, she’s not about to go questioning Jesse about the ‘aura sight’ she always claimed to have right now. Plus saving what could possibly be a really mind-bending conversation for when she’s actually well-rested, would probably be best. Turning to Danny, even though he just woke up -and chugged a cup of coffee- she could still see the tired bags under his eyes, “feel like actually getting a good nights rest?", smirking a little, "now that I don't have to worry about you waking up and running off to do something stupid and reckless". 

Danny stares at the bottom of his coffee cup, if he stays up alone he’ll probably have a mental introspective crisis or two. But if he sleeps he’ll probably have a nightmare or two. So crisis or nightmares? Well one he got sleep, which was probably a good idea to have if he’s going to do the Observants little job. Sighing, he gets up and washes out his cup. Looking back to her, her leaning against the table and clearly watching him. Ah, she probably won’t sleep if he doesn’t, “yeah sure, would probably be for the best. All things considered”. 

She heads towards the bedroom, him walking to the couch. Valerie pauses in the little hallway and tilts her head at him, “really?”. Danny looks at her, “huh?”. Valerie shakes her head disbelievingly at him, walks over and grabs his hand, “do I really seem the type to make my _boyfriend_ -who’s done nothing wrong currently- sleep on the couch?”.

Danny blinks, “you want to sleep with me?”, chuckling cheekily, “wow you move fast”. She whacks him over the head, “not like that you jackass”. Danny just chuckles more and lets Valerie practically drag him off to the bedroom. 

Danny blinks at her as she crawls under the duvet, “you sleep in a sports bra?”, chuckling, “or is being all nakedy a step too fast”. She flips him off, “it’s soft fabric and the girls appreciate the support”, gesturing at him exaggeratedly, “what about you huh? Sticking to the boxers?”, rolling her eyes, “you're the last kinda guy I’d imagine being self-conscious”, the ‘Dan’s body’ thing being the exclusion.

Danny snickers, with the amount of times he’s been reduced to just his boxers in public there’s no way he could be truly self-conscious. “I’ve slept fully-clothed for months”, patting his boxers and climbing in bed too, “as for boxers, slept in them all my life”, grumbling, “last thing anyone wants is having to run out of bed bare ass naked because the house walked into the ocean or a bomb got launched through your floor or because a ghost decided to try and abduct you”. 

Valerie rolls on her side and pats his chest, “I do not envy your childhood _or_ teen-hood”. Leaning her head on his shoulder and readjusting a little, one foot dangling off the edge, “you sure take up a lot of room”. Danny snorts, “I doubt I’m a comfortable bed mate. Also run pretty cold, so you might want more blankets”, running a hand through her hair, “I intentionally keep my temp at a more normal level in the waking world. Kinda need to be conscious to do that”. 

Valerie yawns and closes her eyes, “‘cause o’ your ice?”. Danny nods, “yeah. My natural body temp is about forty-eight degrees. Which for your information, is, like, half the normal body temp; which is ninety something”. Valerie grumbles incoherently and groggily gets out from under the covers, wandering out of the room and then back; another duvet in tow. Making Danny laugh tiredly as she throws it on the bed and crawls back under; Danny patting her head as she snuggles into him again. 

* * *

The next morning (which is really closer to noon since the two seriously slept in), Valerie watches from the doorway after calling in ‘sick’ to work, as Danny sits reading through the lease. “You know I just realised we still need to get you some clean clothing”. 

Danny rolls his eyes as he finishes reading the lease and signs away. Chuckling he gets up, waves the lease, “there I signed my life away. We can deal with the clothing issue another day. Since I’ve actually got a job I should do. Though I hope I’ve annoyed them thoroughly by reading papers and eating bagels instead of focusing on their all-important duties”. 

Valerie claps him on the shoulder, perfectly content to encourage messing (non-violently) with ghosts, “well give it to the landlady yourself to make them wait more. She should still be in. And for crying out loud Danny, don’t just walk down there in a bloody tank top”. Danny shrugs and flings off his shirt before heading out the door. Valerie calls after him, “that’s not what I meant you dumbass”.

As Danny is walking down the hall he bumps into Jesse, “oh hi, for someone I never saw in the first months, I’m sure running into you a lot now”. Danny doesn’t miss how Jesse puts a bit of distance between them, “uh, yup! World’s a funny thing ain’t it”, looking down she spots the papers, “oh! Finally moving in are we? Well good, even if you’re... odd, Vee could use the company. Clearly she’s been enjoying it so far! Though I guess I’m not surprised odd found odd. You’re a terrifying kind of odd though. Even if you do seem sweet. Anyways, I’m going to go now”. 

Danny watches with a raised eyebrow, as she retreats to her apartment. Him muttering, “yeah, well you’re really odd yourself lady”. Turning Danny heads down the stairs and up to the front desk. With a devilish smirk he bangs on the glass a bit harder than needed, he watches as the landlady? jolts a bit, “yes? Oh it’s you. Have the paperwork?”. Danny holds it up before sliding it through the slot. “Good, Good. Now I don’t want anymore messes or they _will_ go on your bill”, she very intentionally glares at him, “and try not to scare away any new tenets”. With that, the landlady turns back around as Danny smirks. While he’s turning to leave he catches her shiver and side-eye him. 

Walking along the sidewalk, hands in his pants pockets, speaking with a cocky grin, “like I said, I’m absolutely terrifying”, at least that didn’t bother him. Being intimidating, creepy, frightening; ghosts were kinda _supposed_ to be that way. Then coming to a halt and facepalming, “I actually kind of need the crystals”. Jumping sideways into an alley before turning invisible, he flies home; slipping in quickly he digs the crystals out of his jacket. He also keeps them visible, not wanting to use any ghost powers on them because who knows. As he zips back out the open window Valerie stares at the jacket which had just been moving, though she didn’t see the crystals float out. 

He decides to make a few laps around Amity, seeing if there are any problems. Low and behold, there is. Looking to be a younger ghost that’s never been to Amity, which makes him all the more cautious. Danny mutters to himself, “who knows what this guy will do...”. 

He quickly decides this guy is bad news when they start trying to eat people, with their freakishly large jaw. As people run away from mr. cannibal ghost, Danny fires off a few shots to get them away from the crowd. Shouting, “people are friends, not food!”, as the ghost spins around, Danny groans as the ghost looks him up and down and licks their lips. “Seriously? I swear I’m horrible on the stomach. And I’m not into vore”. 

The ghost doesn’t even bother with names as they fling themself at Danny. Flying around, Danny moves to just straight up ram them into the wall, which turned out to be a mistake since this guy apparently has a lot of mouths. Danny shouts with a bit of horror and exasperation, “oh come on! I don’t remember signing up to be an _organ or limb donor_ when I died!”, as his hand gets bitten off. Thinking quickly, he phases his other hand clean through the ghost yanking his hand back and putting some distance between them. Putting his severed hand under his armpit, Danny fires blasts into the ghosts mouths; turns out that’s pretty effective. As the ghost starts going into coughing fits. 

Danny, seeing his chance, sucks the distracted and weakened ghost into his thermos. Floating onto a rooftop, Danny uses some scotch tape he found on the ground, to reattach his hand, “well this _bites_ ”, shaking the thermos with his uninjured hand, “for now I’m calling you Chomper”. Looking back to his left messed up hand, which had been severed at the wrist and is now covered in scotch tape, “this looks like the dumbest bracelet ever but so long as it doesn’t fall off it seems I can still use it”, flexing his fingers and sighing, “Valerie will freak if she sees this, huh. Well, I guess I could just roll with the bracelet thing and say some kid wanted to make me a bracelet... out of tape”. Sighing, Danny hopes it works ‘cause he is not looking forward to the possibility of explaining just _how_ different his healing is. Humans can’t reattach their own limbs like this after all. With that in mind, he decides to just fly the rest of the way to the shield around Fenton Works.

Returning to visibility in alley, crystals in his pocket. He walks up and taps on the force field. Technically he could just destroy it with a ghostly wail but that was probably a bad idea. Knowing it was close to what had been dubbed ‘ghost hour’, Danny elects to wait on top of a building for the Fenton’s to go out to hunt. His waiting was not for nothing as they decide to not only go out on the prowl but to do so on foot. “Well my luck could only get better if they weren’t wearing Spector-deflectors”, which of course they were. 

Once they leave the shield's radius Danny follows them silently in the air, still in human form to avoid setting off their detectors. He can’t help but thank himself that they haven’t found a way to sense human Danny yet. The couple eventually makes their way to a secluded park and Danny perches himself on a tree branch. Arms hanging limply with a crystal in each hand, he fiddles with them as he waits to see what exactly they’re up to. 

They don’t speak much but he does catch Jack boast that there’s so few ghosts because he’s an amazing ghost hunter. Danny rolls his eyes at this. Maddie just mutters about how ‘dare Phantom claim this town is Its’ and ‘how they need to purge ghosts from Amity’. Danny makes a mental note that he’s going to have to find a way to spy on them. Which makes him shiver because that is just too much like Vlad. Maybe he’ll get Tuck to connect something remotely to any current Vladcam’s? 

Eventually, after no ghosts show up around here, the Fenton’s elect to have a snack right at the foot of Danny’s tree. Danny can’t help but smile at the sheer dumb luck of that. Danny knows it would be stupid to just spring down on them so he flies down and leans against the other side of the large tree, returning to visibility and staying in human form, still completely shirtless and with scotch tape all over his wrist; he probably looks like a real crazy dude. 

“Hello, again”.

Instantly both spring up and whip around; charging their weapons. “I thought you said you’d leave us alone too”, Jack accuses as Maddie prepares to fire. 

With a wave of his hand, Danny stills her gun with the lingering ectoplasm in the air that naturally built up around the park since he’s been sitting here, adding a chill to the air as well, “relax, or really you shouldn’t, I’m not here as Phantom but rather The Thorn Prince”, Danny clears his throat as they both glare, “ **for those who break higher law and cross the crown, the sword must be cast; by name of harmony and by name of justice. As sword in crown it shall be dealt** ”. With that Danny holds up the two crystals and then extends them towards Maddie and Jack. Continuing the required speech, “ **grab the hilt or bite the blade, it is your choice to make** ”. He’s not going to bother explaining this, which is probably confusing them; they don’t really deserve him putting in that extra effort. 

Jack glances warily at the crystals, while Maddie growls, “why would we take anything from you, _ghost_ ”. Danny nods at Maddie and holds the crystal pointed at her back up, looking to the Fenton patriarch as Jack speaks, “I’m guessing there are only two options here, and the second one is less pleasant?”. 

At this Danny nods, so Jack grabs the crystal -to Danny’s surprise actually, though he doesn’t show it- Maddie gapping at him all the while. As soon as Maddie faces Danny again he waves his free hand stilling her entire body with the ectoplasm in the air. Jack watches warily as Danny walks up and pushes the crystal into Maddie’s head, it phasing through easily. Danny then nods to Jack, pointing at the crystal then his head. Jack gulps and nervously obeys, something about Danny was intimidating and very powerful; It wasn’t playing nice with them anymore, human skin or not.

Once both crystals have been inserted, Danny releases the ectoplasm around Maddie. Who immediately yells, “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!”. Danny rolls his eyes as he snaps his fingers, not bothering to dignify that with a response. 

Both instantly collapse, Danny utilising the airs ectoplasm again to slow their descent, while their minds entire the visions. Danny runs a hand through his hair, “well that went slightly better than expected. They’re probably going to be pretty freaked when they wake up but it’s not like I can take them to their home”. With that Danny shrugs and flies off. 

Eventually, the two do indeed wake up screaming and shaking. Glancing at each other muttering, “nope. Nope. Nope”, as they book it home.

* * *

Meanwhile, Valerie had decided to get up after the jacket stopped moving and goes to poke it a couple times, “I wonder if Danny’s contaminated enough to contaminate other things? And when was this thing last washed?”, knowing Danny, the answer could be ‘never’. Shaking her head, she heads over to her neighbours for a little _chat_ knowing full well Danny’s going to be gone a while. 

Knocking on the door it takes barely three seconds for Jesse to open up the door, “what’s up girl! I’ll be honest, your apartment is starting to freak me out. Care to tell me why there’s a lingering aura that vibrates every time a second passes and a nearly faded one that feels like thousands of eyes? At least I know why there’s the sturdy freakishly powerful one, but the others? What is going on over there? ‘Cause if it’s a party with a couple weird people, you better be here to apologise for not inviting me”. 

Valerie just stares, utterly shocked, before she shakes herself, “that was an awful lot to unload in a doorway. But no, we just had some unexpected visitors. One who hopefully won’t be around again, the other’s okay though”, she’s willing to tolerate ClockWork for Danny. Valerie shrugging gives Jesse the opportunity to pipe up again, “is your place going to become a ghost hot spot or something?”. Shocking Valerie again, “um why do you say that?”. Jesse giggles, “because they’re all ghostly auras, I assume Leather is a hunter too because of his. Since it’s become pretty obvious he’s not a ghost. Though I’m still positive that guy isn’t all human or something _really weird_ happened in his body”, she’s leaning towards god more so than devil now.

Valerie’s head is practically spinning off its wheels at this point, “Jesse you have completely lost me, you can _actually_ sense or see ghostly auras or something can’t you? I kinda thought you were just making shit up”, Valerie’s has the decency to look apologetic. 

Jesse waves her off good-naturedly, “oh no worries, most folks do, so I expect it”, laughing, “but yes, yes I certainly can. And Vee? Your boy is _loaded_ , it’s not the same as what’s around the ghosts in town. Those two you had earlier were definitely ghosts but I’m guessing you knew that”, waving her hand around Valerie, “just like you have one too, that’s how I knew you were a hunter. Always found it kinda cool to have The Red Huntress as a neighbour even if I knew you’d probably attract some ghostly attention”, throwing her arms up in an exaggerated shrug, “can’t live in Amity without being chill with the ghosties am I right?”. 

Valerie’s jaw might as well be on the floor by now, her neighbour just _knew_ about her hunting? “How the?-”. Jesse’s laugh cuts her off, “silly! your aura doesn’t change when the suits on or off. Though it does have its own aura and they, like, flip. It’s easier to see the suits one when you’re wearing it. Easier to see yours when you’re not”, waving her hand dismissively, “but I wouldn't worry about ghostly auras, if you’re around ghost stuff all the time you’re bound to have a stronger one. Nothing like a ghosts but still. Pretty much everyone in Amity has some level of a ghostly aura”. At this point Jesse smiles like she just remembered something as Valerie is still trying to collect herself, “oh that’s right! I made cookies! You might as well come in!”.

Valerie nods as she follows her inside and sits at the lady's pale pink table with dainty white lace on top. On it is a plate of mint and strawberry cookies. Eyeing them Valerie smiles, “Danny would love these actually, he has a thing for weird food combinations”. Jesse smiles, “feel free to give him some then!”, leaning over, “so is the boy a hunter? ‘Cause if he is he must be very busy to have built up such an aura”. 

Valerie bites a bit of the cookie and it’s tolerable but yeah Danny would love it, “his parents’ are the Fenton’s though he has nothing to do with them now. It’s probably all over town, but they basically assaulted him at the funeral”. 

Jesse's eyes widen, “that was _his_ parents’!? Wow that’s harsh”, leaning backwards some, “yeah I heard about that. Didn’t know Leather was a Fenton kid. Explains a lot. That entire place has its own aura! I can’t say I like your boy's parents’ though. From what I heard they were pretty nasty”. Valerie nods solemnly, “there’s probably a recording of the screaming match I had with them online somewhere. Danny doesn’t consider himself a ‘Fenton’ anymore, he doesn’t even refer to them as his parents. They’re just the Fenton’s now. They deserve it”, shaking her head and looking straight at Jesse, “but is Danny’s aura really _that much_?”. 

Jesse nods her head enthusiastically and shudders a bit, “good for him! And oh yeah. Frankly, it’s the strongest I’ve ever seen! Even compared to those two ghosties! Sure it’s not the same but if he was a ghost? Oh boy! Even when we had that weird into the Ghost Zone incident, Mr. Floaty head was way below what I’m getting off Leather. It’s extremely unnerving actually, even if it has a very sturdy protective quality to it. Kind of like being in the same room as a god. Heck! I’m still not convinced that he isn’t a god!”. 

Valerie stares at her halfway into taking her third bite, “um what?”. Jesse shrugs, “with that whole bloody shirt stunt, I wasn’t sure if he was actually a good boy. But I’d say he’s definitely good at this point, which I always believed he would be, but kind of hard to see a guy wearing a bloody shirt like it’s normal and not wonder if he’s nefarious”. Valerie chuckles at this, just as she thought, “so I’ve told him but that one is the only one that qualifies as wearable that he owns and I made a joke about him being constantly shirtless. I regretted that as soon as you came in that day”. 

Jesse is laughing and slapping her thigh, “he needs new clothes then! Maybe we could all go! Gives me something to do and you two someone other than each other to hang out with”. Valerie smiles and nods, finishing her cookie, “I think I’ll take you up on that. Danny has a problem with accepting help from others but he’s less likely to refuse to go if someone else is coming. And he doesn’t exactly have any money”. Jesse puts her hands on her hips, “well tell him to get a job then! But tomorrow we shop so he’ll have to accept what’s bought for him”, Jesse feels just a little giddy over that, she gets to play dress up!

Valerie chuckles though frowning a little, “Danny and jobs don’t coexist, if he got a job it would have to be something he can do and stop doing when and where ever. Considering he’d rather be homeless than have a regular job”. She’s not sure how he was okay with that. Sure the Nasty Burger _sucked_ but it was worth it to keep a roof over her head. 

Jesse makes a show of shaking her head in disappointment, “wow that’s actually kind of impressive, so you brought in a lost stray huh? Maybe your softer than I thought girl”, Jesse pokes Valerie’s shoulder playfully before Valerie replies. “We actually dated back in high-school but I broke up with him because I was an idiot. But otherwise, he’s a lost dog who was never actually lost, just wandering”. They both eat a few more cookies never hearing Danny return.

Danny comes back through the door like a normal person. And quickly discovers Valerie’s not home. “Okay?”, shrugging, “I guess I can’t really complain. Though I’m not sure where she’d be, I already patrolled for ghosts. So?”. Walking over to his bag he grabs some scrap fabric and uses Valerie’s sewing machine to fashion himself a rather poorly made fabric bracelet. Holding it up, “yup, definitely looks like a kid made it. Not sure if I should be proud of that or not”. Danny then spends time stitching his hand back on with ecto-line and wrapping it up. Phasing the bracelet over it, “yeah, this’ll work and looks less stupid. Plus thanks to the ecto-line, which I’m running low on, I won’t phase my hand off”, he’s seriously going to have to figure out how to make his own. 

Shrugging, Danny decides to get back to the portal schematics he was looking at before the funeral; as he walks back to the living room and his bags. Pondering where the heck he could actually build this. The last thing he wanted was for Valerie to get caught up in it. Muttering, “especially since every time someone makes one, a new halfa gets made. Not happening this time”. Unfortunately there really wasn’t any place other than the weapons room, which actually _was_ a bit cleaner now. 

Wandering over to the room, plans under his arm, Danny starts moving around things to free up the back wall. Sizing it up, he nods to himself, “yeah this’ll have to do, now how to build it as low key as possible...”. Danny taps on his chin as he walks back to his bags. Looking between the map and the parts he’s managed to gather or build himself over the past months, he can’t help but smile.

Meanwhile, next door. The two girls laugh but as Valerie looks at how late it is, she decides it’s probably best to head back to her own apartment. Noticing where her eyes go Jesse jumps up, “nope! You rarely socialise so if you're going back I’m coming with! Cookies are included!”. Valerie just chuckles, nods and waves for Jesse to follow, which she does; bouncing around a little as she goes, cookies in hand.

Danny snaps his head around as soon as the door lock starts clicking, shoving the plans and a few parts away, he stands up and brushes off his pants; just as the door opens. The girls are instantly greeted by the sight of Danny wearing just his pants, leaves in his hair, and mud on his feet. Valerie looks him up and down, sighing, “did you leave without your shoes?”, noticing Danny’s smirk she shakes her head, “you could have come back for them you dumbass”. Danny grins, lifting his hands up as he shrugs, “these feet were made for walkin’”. Jesse chuckles causing Danny to actually notice her, “oh shit a person. Should I wash up or something?”. Jesse burst out laughing from this and nearly drops the cookies. So Valerie shows her over to the kitchen rolling her eyes at Danny, “I think it’s a little late for that, Danny. And you’re cleaning the floor”. 

Danny looks down at his feet and then, sitting on the windowsill he sticks them out the window; using his intangibility to clean them off. Jesse walks into the living room just in time to see him get off the windowsill and back into the room. “You are very chaotic aren’t you?”. He spins around towards her, “I call it my normal, I was just cleaning my feet off”. Jesse wheezes a bit, “out the window?”. 

Valerie just manages to catch that as she walks in and whips a cookie at Danny, who catches it with ease. Shrugging Danny takes a bite as Valerie talks, “can’t say I’m surprised. Just don’t fall, at least I have a board”. Danny raises his eyebrows at her, the question clear on his face. Valerie sighs with a disbelieving head shake, “she’s apparently known since I moved in. I’m learning new things every day it seems”. 

Danny turns to Jesse, cookie now consumed, “okay first, that was great, maybe you’d like one of my cheese puff and bacon smoothies. Second, how?”. Jesse laughs loudly as she sits down on the couch, while Danny’s leaning against the wall, “wow Vee! You weren’t kidding about odd food creations! Mine’s normal compared to that!”. Danny huffs with mock offence and rolls his eyes. 

Valerie answers Danny while Jesse laughs her ass off, “Jesse can see ghostly auras, apparently nearly everyone in Amity Park has one and their pretty unique”. Both girls notice Danny looking a bit uncomfortable and panicky, Jesse's the one to speak up, “looks like your boy here knows his aura is freaky. It’s cool though, it’s pretty easy to tell humans with strong ghostly auras, like the two of you, apart from actual ghosts. Though I’ll admit your aura is strange to be around, it’s really odd and super strong. Yours is stronger than basically every ghost in town!”. Valerie can still barely believe that. 

Danny rubs his neck knowing full well that his is, in fact, the strongest around. But he feels pretty confident that she doesn’t actually know he’s Phantom, somehow he thinks she’d bluntly point that out if she did know. So he’s just going to assume his aura changes just like his form. Though he’s going to be careful around this girl from now on. Then he remembers that she said ‘basically‘, “what do you mean by basically?”. While Danny’s wondering just who the Zone this girl has met that’s stronger than him, Valerie is staring at him wondering why he’s completely unfazed by being so high in ghost energy. 

Jesse shakes her head with a smile, “typical boy, always got to be the strongest! If it makes you feel any better, Phantom’s the only one, personally I avoid him as best I can. His aura is practically intoxicating, like getting an entire bottle of vodka shot straight into your veins and then gut-punched by pure raw _power_. There’s also a side of aggressive protectiveness but that might be because Amity Park is his. He’s a good ghost and all but I’m not sure how one being could be that over the top”. She finishes with a shrug while both Valerie and Danny gape at her.

“Wow, um, sorry? I guess I’ll just go die then?”. 

“What do you mean Amity Park is his?!”.

Jesse laughs, curling up a bit, “wow talk about two very different responses! I have no clue why you’re saying sorry Leather, but don’t worry about it, also”, lifting up a finger before pointing it at him, “don’t do that”, turning to Valerie, “And yeah of course Amity is his. Bits of his aura coat literally everything, obvious sign of a lair. Though I have no clue how or why a ghost would make a place in the human world his lair. Phantom is a pretty universal mystery to everyone, even if he’s the local hero and a celebrity”. 

Danny smirks, he’s honestly surprised the lair thing wasn’t common knowledge. Though he does get how that might bother some people, to know that they’re part of a ghosts lair, “well at least you don’t hate him, some folks do”. 

Valerie collects herself enough to speak, “I’m seriously _not cool_ with that. I may agree that he seems like a good Spook, but on principle I don’t like it”. 

Jesse grabs another cookie and sits back down while speaking, “of course you don’t, you’re a hunter! But he isn’t causing issues so I don’t see the problem. Hell! He protects us! And I know he did that even before this place wound up his lair. Which honestly, I don’t think was intentional”. Valerie shakes her head angrily, “I don’t know how that could be done accidentally but it’s, like, almost midnight and we have shopping to do tomorrow”. She points and glares at Danny’s shirtless chest, he just shrugs. Jesse beams at the reminder, “oh yeah! I guess I’ll see you there, let’s go with ten! Toddles!”, and heads out the door.

Danny watches her run off, “does she speed-walk everywhere?”, shaking his head and turning to Valerie, who looks decidedly _not pleased_ , “and Val, even I could have told you that. Heck, even Jack knows Phantom’s made this town his lair”, he’s almost genuinely confused over how she doesn’t know. Valerie grumbles, “well I still don’t like it and I _am_ going to ask him about it whenever I see him next”. Danny makes a mental note to prepare for that conversation as they both head off to bed.

Neither actually go to sleep though, Danny pretends to sleep and Valerie gets up, once she’s pretty sure Danny’s asleep; her picking up on the slight chill coming off him, she may snore but he turns into a freaking ice cube. Danny easily hearing her activate her suit, he sits up once the sound of her board cutting through the air fades into the distance. He knows full well she’s going searching for Phantom and will be annoyed if she can’t find him. So he invisibly ducks out, changes to Phantom, and goes to chill in a tree. 

It takes about one hour for her to find him, his ghost sense going off once in that time but it’s just a small fry so he let her have fun with that one. He hears her board’s engines cool down a bit before she actually addresses him, “Phantom, we need to talk”. 

Danny smiles at the sky before turning his head towards her, “ah yes, and what would it be Red?”. Valerie glides up right next to him in the tree and takes in just how big he’s become, insanely muscular and forbiddingly tall. She still doesn’t know why he, unlike other ghosts, changes so drastically and slowly but she assumes it’s because he was young when he first showed up. “I’ve heard you’ve made Amity your lair? Why?”.

Danny nods as he floats out of the tree beside her, Valerie never takes her eyes off him and he knows it. “Indeed, I live here after all. Regardless of not being one of the living”, smirking at her and knowing damn well she’s rolling her eyes. Deciding to get to the point before she decides to get trigger happy for ‘a little friendly encouragement’, “It happened of its own accord and fret not for I mean no harm. I only knew myself because I was informed about it by a little birdie”. Valerie crosses her arms, “so you mean to say it was unintentional? Last I checked ghosts can’t ‘live’ in the human world, and how do you know it won’t hurt anyone?”. 

Danny chuckles, “I’m unusual what can I say? I live here and thus it happened, simple as that. So yes, totally unintentional. And it won’t hurt anyone because a lair in the human world is nothing more than territorial markings, I can not manipulate anything other than the residual and stored up ectoplasm in the air. Which I will admit there is a lot of”, then condensing the ectoplasm in the air to make a little cube. Tossing it to her as he starts flying on his back in a lazy circle around her. Valerie inspects the cube but largely keeps an eye on him as she spins around on her board, following his movements. Valerie doesn’t let the cube distract her from her main reason for being here, “so you can not harm or manipulate people or buildings because of this?”. 

Danny stills, floating upright in front of her, bent over purely to be less physically imposing, “correct. I can give things glows, create rope or gags from the ectoplasm. Levitate things as-well”, shrugging, “I could make the sky green, but that would be very pointless”. Valerie nods at him, “I still don’t like it but very well, however, this city belongs to the humans who live here, _not you_ ”, at least it seems like Phantom isn’t about to try claiming ownership to people or try to rule over Amity like a feudal lord.

Danny smirks, changing to his ghostly tail and wags it about, “ghost wise it’s mine, ghosts do not care about human claims to ownership. If it means anything, it does reduce the number of ghosts, since so long as I’m here I’m stronger, not as strong as I would be in the Zone but still”. Valerie glares, “I’d rather you not be any stronger, Phantom. But I’ve got what I’ve come for, so farewell”. With that he lazily watches her leave till he knows she can’t see him and zips home invisibly at top speed. Managing to get there and successfully pretend to be asleep before she does


	7. In Blood-Sucking Fashion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like Vlad wasn't going to notice the address change.

When Danny gets up Valerie is sitting on the counter poking his jacket. So he raises an eyebrow at her, “um, why?”. She grimaces, “you remember how you said hotdogs would come to life and shit? Well I think you should wash or decontaminate your jacket. It was wiggling while you were gone yesterday”. 

Danny’s face turns beet red, whoops, “uh yeah I’ll do that”. Valerie nods at him before offering him a bowl of cereal. Which he takes and starts eating while cursing himself for not waiting till she left the room to grab the crystals. “And Danny, you are not wearing that till it’s cleaned or whatever, and you can’t wear the shirt”, she glares at him as if to dare him to disagree, “so take your pick, my clothing? or this?”, she gestures at his half-naked form. Danny smirks evilly, already knowing full well he’s not wearing _shit_. Valerie just sighs, seeing his facial expression, “at least wash your hair?”. 

Valerie watches as he smirks more and his hair freezes solid then rapidly melts, leaving his hair dripping wet. Valerie scowls, “show off”, as he wanders to the bathroom to scrub shampoo into it. Him shouting from the bathroom as he rinses with ice water, “how do you think I kept my hair all fresh and nice on the streets!”. Valerie nods her head slightly as he renters and gestures to his dry clean hair, useful and smart; she wouldn’t have thought of that.

Then her eyes go to the poorly made bracelet, “Danny, what is that?”. Danny blinks a few times, confused, before it dawns on him, looking at the band of fabric around his wrist, “oh yeah, some kid insisted on giving me a bracelet. I sorta agreed to wear it”. Danny rubs the back of his neck awkwardly as Valerie smirks, “God you’re such a softie”, though she’s suspicious, she feels that’s a pretty likely thing Danny would do. 

They make their way to the mall pretty quickly and find Jesse with ease. Danny smirks as he spots her, “it’s pretty hard to miss that giant pink hat”. 

Jesse waves him off exaggeratedly, “says the guy who’s shirtless! And did I ever mention that you are _completely ripped_? How did you even pack on this much muscle?”, she pokes his chest with an awed facial expression. Danny smirks, “by _dying_ ”. While Valerie rolls her eyes at his antics.

A shout of, “hey! It’s Fentoenail!”, can suddenly be heard as Dash starts walking over, Dash’s view of Danny is largely obscured by the two girls. Danny rolls his eyes, moving his entire head with the motion, and sighs, “what do you want Dash?”. 

“Oh I don’t know, maybe I just wanted to see how my favourite wimpy punching bag is?”, Dash’s grin is definitely cruel but Danny’s actually taller and drastically more muscular than him now, Dash just doesn’t know it yet. 

Jesse looks from one to the other as Dash gets closer and she turns to Danny in disbelief, “you used to be puny? _How_? I’d be afraid someone would break their hand if they tried punching you”. To be fair to her, someone actually _could_ break their hand if they punched him. Maddie _did_ fracture her wrist when she slapped him one time and he refused to turn his head with the motion. 

Just as Dash gets close and realises Danny’s a solid half foot taller than him, Danny steps out around the girls to be in Dash’s full view. Arms crossed and just mildly flexing. Dash stutters out, “h-holy- Uh, w-when did that h-happen?”. Danny laughs, relaxed, putting his hands into his pants pockets and leans over Dash, growling just a little bit, “while you were shoving me into lockers, Dashie. I could have torn you apart if I wanted to but I’m not like you”. With that Danny turns around and walks off, the girls following him, as he gives a two-finger wave over his shoulder. It takes Dash a bit to shake himself off from the encounter, but he makes a mental note to never get in a fight with Danny. 

Meanwhile, Jesse whistles, “you can pull off scary really _really_ easily when you want to”. Danny shrugs and scratches his head, “it makes people listen or fuck off”. Valerie just eyes Danny wondering if that was a bit of his evil potential showing through but feeling assured that it’s nothing to worry about. 

The group hop from store to store. Making Danny try on an assortment of clothing. Everything from fine suits to Jesse coaxing him into a speedo (Valerie cackled at him the entire time, regardless of obviously enjoying the view). Eventually they settled on a couple new wife beaters (Danny’s got a type, so sue him), a few dress shirts (one of which is the most hideous thing any of them have ever seen, hence why they bought it), a random band shirt (it read ‘I AM A GHOST’ and glowed in the dark, how could he not?), three pairs of military pants (useful _and_ stylish), and a matching pair of leather pants and jacket (per Jesse’s demands).

Heading into the food court, shopping spree done and everyone in need of some food, Valerie shakes her head, “you sure are a one-note guy with clothing Danny. Three white wife beaters nearly the same as your old ones?”. Danny smirks as he shrugs, “what can I say, I know what I like”. While Jesse shakes her head as well, “do you wear anything with colour? I’d almost think you were a goth. And no, that egg teeth print monstrosity does not count”. Danny snickers a bit gleefully, he _will_ make Vlad’s eyes bleed, “naw, I just know my colours”, the meaning of that is lost on Jesse and Valerie though, while Danny leans over Valerie, “can haz coffee?”. 

Valerie glares at him with disgust while handing over a fifty, “you disgust me”. Danny just smirks and runs off to the local coffee shop. Jesse quirks an eyebrow, “fifty for a coffee?”. Valerie shrugs, “don’t got anything smaller on me”. 

“So he gets coffee, you get change, and the barista suffers”, making both of them laugh. 

Meanwhile, Danny nods at the barista that looks like she’s not sure if she should cry or laugh. Him telling her that, “yes, that’s what I want. Don’t worry about it”. She screws up her face, “let me just ask if that’s even allowed and can I... take a photo of the receipt?”. Danny sighs, “just say it’s for Danny, he knows”, shrugging, “and sure, don’t see why not”. 

A couple seconds later a guy from the back shouts, “kid, some day you are going to die!”. As the barista comes back and rings him up, “so that’ll be forty-nine twenty-eight for... twenty-eight shots of espresso... sir”, the ‘sir’ sounds a bit pained. Danny hands over the fifty while shouting, “this is all that keeps my _corpse_ trucking, Joshep! The only suitable _lifeblood_!”. Joshep walks out from the back just to give him a pained look in-person, “you will not die a painless death”. Danny simply smirks, “and I didn't”, and salutes him with his cup before leaving. His death hurt like a son of a bitch.

The girls eye him as he sits back down, having already drained a third of the cup, Valerie sighing, “big enough cup? Now where’s my change?”. Danny blinks at her, “you expected change?”, but hands over the two quarters and three dimes. Valerie blinks at the coins, “the fuck did you buy Danny?!?”, Jesse just laughs into the table. 

“Just my usual, well close enough anyway, few bucks short”. 

Jesse laughs harder, “Leather? What the Hell _is_ your normal? I didn’t know coffee could even cost that much. I’m actually impressed!”. Danny shrugs and sips his drink, “thirty shots of espresso”, then smirking devilishly while both girls blink at him. Valerie looks over the rim of the cup, sniffs, and then smacks him over the head, “you have a _problem_ ”. Danny just shrugs and takes another sip, covering his ghost sense up. 

Everyone looks to the side at the sound of screaming, the situation becoming obvious to everyone when someone shouts, “GHOST!”. Danny and Jesse side-eye Valerie, Danny can tell they’re not a really strong ghost so he can be fine letting her handle it so long as he can keep an eye on the fight. But she doesn’t get a chance to do more than stand up before the Lunch Lady flies out of a burger joint while chewing the workers out over adding meatless burgers.

Valerie clenches her hands, while Danny just sighs, when the Lunch Lady notices and zeros in on them; her narrowing her eyes at the food and drinks in front of them. She floats over -everyone having effectively fled from the food court, meaning there’s no point in Danny faking fear or some shit- and puts her hands on her hips, glaring at Danny’s drink and then him, “it is after five dearie, this is hardly healthy”. 

Danny gestures to his face, “is this the face of someone who cares? Let me enjoy my liquid death in peace”, while Valerie gapes and Jesse’s eyebrows seem to be attempting to hide in her hat though she’s scooted as far off the table as she can without falling off. Danny takes a spiteful sip of his espresso, though seriously hoping the ghost leaves before this gets any more suspicious; they’re in public for Ancients sake! Ghosts know better than to approach him while human for mundane shit! He’s probably bugging her Obsession though, so he can’t really fault her... much. She scowls at him before just plopping an entire loaf in front of him, her pointing at him, “banana nut, helps absorb caffeine. Eat it or PERISH!”, and flies through the ceiling. 

Danny blinks and scowls at the loaf, “I didn’t mean ‘liquid death’ _literally_ ”. Jesse bends over wheezing, “Leather! You just got mother hened by a _ghost_. Is this normal for you?”. Danny snorts and sips at his coffee, studiously ignoring the loaf, “not particularly, no”, ghosts he wasn’t particularly on good terms with usually didn’t give a damn about his well-being. 

Valerie sits down slowly, eyeballing her sensor to see that the ghost is indeed gone. Danny glances to her and away in a way that feels physically awkward, so for a lack of anything else to say, she points at the loaf, “is that safe?”. Danny takes one hand off his drink -not both, like he’s concerned someone might take it if he lets go; which considering what just happened was fair- and rubs his neck, “probably?”. Jesse lifts the glass pan up and looks at the underside, “it’s green, so I’d say no. Unless you like ghost cake? Which I wonder what that would taste like? Would it be limey? Could you taste the glow? Would you actually survive eating ecto?”. 

Danny snorts and puts the loaf in his bag, “it’s more white chocolate than lime, though it might gain sentience and stab you with a knife. On that note, never get food from Fenton Works”. Jesse laughs, “that’s terrifying”. While Valerie’s grimace deepens, “I did hear a rumour that someone got chased by a Christmas turkey they cooked once”. Danny gives her an unreadable expression, “that was me, I was nine”. Then grumbling into his cup, “oh shut it”, when they both laugh at him.

Danny looks around, “probably should go before people get back and wonder why we didn’t run off”. They all nod and follow him in getting up, Valerie looking to Jesse, “why didn’t you run anyway?”. Jesse waves her off, “girl, you’d tell me to run if they were someone dangerous”. Danny pointing at Valerie as they head out the side doors, “she has a point you know”. Valerie actually blushes, sometimes amazed at the amount of trust people put into the Red Huntress. 

Danny finishes his drink by the time they get back to the apartment complex, Jesse blinks and laughs when he throws out the empty cup, “you’re not going to be able to sleep for days! Remind me to never give you large amounts of cash to support your habit!”, Danny gives her a very over-acted puppy dog look. She just shakes her head as she heads into her own apartment, “how’d I think that boy was scary? Well he is, but he isn’t. Trickster god probably”. 

Valerie shakes her head while pushing their own door open, “well that went pretty well, what with you terrifying her the first time you met”, glaring at him a bit, “and considering you got fucking health advice from a ghost. Sure I know the Lunch Lady is barely more of a threat than the Box Ghost, but still. And is that loaf _actually_ safe? You didn’t just say that to avoid freaking out Jesse? ‘Cause that’s a pretty you thing to do”, she pushes him on the shoulder.

Danny chuckles, “I have a tolerance when it comes to ecto. I could eat it even if it did gain sentience”, rubbing his neck, “a normal person who didn’t grow up on ecto-contaminated food? Ancients no. And the Lunch Lady does that not just to me, Sam -any non-meat eaters really- gets the worst of-”, Danny cuts himself off as he walks into the living room and pauses. Looking at the floor he completely ignores Valerie as he goes and crushes something on the floor with his foot while growling. Valerie furrowing her brows, “uh, Danny?”. 

Danny bends down and picks up the crushed object and lifts it up to her. “What the Hell is that?”, she takes in Danny’s pretty pissed off facial expression. Danny scowls, “a very annoying bug”, very aggressively grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling down, ‘ _Vladcam_ ’, and tosses both the paper and camera at Valerie. Then storming off to start rummaging through the apartment. 

Valerie grows more worried as she hears more crunching sounds, wondering what the Hell is a Vladcam and if the Vlad part was just a weird company name, or meant _Vlad Masters?_ Danny eventually comes back from his camera destroying rampage with eight destroyed cameras, and six destroyed mini mics. The only room where he hasn’t checked inside the walls, floor and ceiling, being the living room where Valerie is. Dumping them on the couch to Valerie’s shock, she whispers, “what the fuck”. 

Danny puts a finger to his lips as he scribbles on a piece of paper, handing it to Valerie. Valerie reads it with confusion and a bit of apprehension, ‘ _this room’s almost positively still bugged, I’m going to do something weird so try not to freak out. He’ll hear_ ’. Valerie nods at Danny looking kind of worried as Danny phases a big stick and his hand _straight into the wall_ and sweeps it across the inside of each wall, the floor, and ceiling. Valerie has to clench her teeth to keep from asking a bunch of questions, instead just showing a completely shocked expression. 

Danny winds up finding two more, promptly crushing them. Danny stares at the destroyed technology, which all suddenly freeze solid, and then looks to Valerie, “so”, rubbing his neck and giving a very awkward smile, “what do you want to ask first?”. Valerie’s mouth drops, “everything? I’m going to take a guess and say that was another one of your abilities. That makes four now, which is plain crazy. And what do mean by Vlad? And also why the Hell would someone bug our place?”. Danny rubs his neck some more as he answers, “yeah and I know. And by Vlad, I mean _Vlad_ , as in Vlad Masters. He had a tendency to bug Fenton Works and I guess he found out I was here now”. That makes him wonder just _how much_ the elder halfa knows.

Valerie blinks at him, “Danny, WHAT THE FUCK! Why the Hell does that asshole millionaire want to watch you?! Does he stalk you or something?!”. Danny actually laughs at that, “he has an obsession with me and the Fenton’s. If he had it his way Maddie would marry him and I would call him dad”. Danny shivers at that but continues, “he, um, also knows that big secret of mine and that’s literally why he wants me. Basically the opposite of the Fenton’s but really _really_ creepy about it. That, and he wants me to be a bad guy. Oh, he also frequently tries to murder Jack, that’s how we met actually. Murder plot disguised as a college reunion”. 

Valerie flops down on the couch, figures that Vlad, with all his ghost tech, went to school with the Fenton’s. But everything else? Major what the fuck, “Christ Danny, how many times am I going to have to tell you that something is messed up?”, pausing, Valerie fiddles with her thumbs, “do you, uh, know about Vlad being... different?”. Danny tenses, “different? If you mean what I think you mean. You’re gonna have to say it”. Valerie gives him a puzzled look, “okay... well he’s a ghost or part ghost or something. I saw him transform or mutate or whatever”. Danny seemed to know everyone's secrets and was clearly at least familiar with Vlad. Heck! Vlad might be labelled a family ‘friend’. So suspecting that he was in the know was reasonable.

Danny pushes the electronics on the floor and flops down next to her. He’s not sure if he’s impressed with Valerie or disappointed with Vlad for that level of a screw-up; one less secret for him to keep though. Sighing, “yeah I know about that. The Fenton’s are to blame for it actually. If he hasn’t threatened to kill you yet then he obviously doesn’t know you know”. 

Valerie opens and closes her mouth a couple times, “just how many people have those two fucked up? So what? they _killed him?_! And no he hasn’t threatened me, but screw that asshole. I pretty much decided he was another ghost I was hunting after he basically tortured a little girl”, shaking her head, “and here I thought I couldn’t dislike him more”.

Valerie shakes her head while Danny smirks, “they’ve messed up at least three. Jazz kept a memoir for a reason. Oh, wait no, they also got Harriet fired and turned into a laughing stock, so that makes four. Also pretty sure Jack has scarred Mr. Lancer for life”, Valerie just gives a disbelieving head shake so he continues, “as for what happened? basically Vlad, Jack and Maddie were university buddies and they practically blew up a prototype portal in his face. Jack got the calculations or whatever wrong. Put diet pop into it”, frowning, “and it’s best to stay off of Vlad’s bad side, he views people like chess pieces that he can manipulate to his will. Though if you’re already on it -like me, Sam, Tuck, and Jazz- then feel free to mess with the frootloop. He talks a bigger game than he can actually back up”, waving a hand around limply, “the whole ghost thing is his only real leverage besides money”. 

Valerie shakes her head and puts her head in her hands, “I don’t think I care about being on the bad side of anyone who I think is an enemy. So fuck him”. Danny leans back and smirks, “glad to hear it. But quick question what exactly do you think Vlad is? You seemed kind of confused about that”, not that he could really blame her. 

Valerie shakes her head and scrunches up her eyebrows, “I really don’t know, obviously he’s at least part ghost. I know half ghosts are possible but Plasmius looks nothing like Masters. Unlike a girl I know. So I don’t know if he’s a half-ghost or just a ghost wearing human skin. I know they can do that, well some of them anyways”. Danny nods, “he’s a half-ghost. But don’t ask me why he looks so different. That’s one secret I don’t have”, and he’s not about to genuinely ask the guy. Valerie grins softly at that, “finally, I was starting to think you knew every secret there was”. 

Danny puts an arm around her and whispers into her ear, “wanna know another little secret?”. She pushes his face away, “sure but if you tell me I’m cute, I’ll punch you”. Danny throws his head back and barks out a laugh, “that’s not a secret. But you remember how I told you some idiot stoled from Pariah and that’s why he came here?”, at Valerie’s nod he continues, “that idiot was Vlad, it was one of his dumb plots for power”. 

“You have got to be kidding? Geez, that man really is a lunatic”.

Danny nods with a smirk, “he pulls shit like that every year or so. Even broke out a criminal from the Observants once. Guy’s ten pounds of nuts past a fruit cake”, turning his head to check the time on the stove only to notice there’s an envelope on the counter. Sure he noticed before, but he couldn’t hear any electronics from it so he mentally ignored it. Muttering, “where’d that come from”, resulting in a confused look from Valerie as he gets up. 

Valerie gets up herself and walks over as Danny rips it open, him already having a sneaking suspicion on who it’s from; considering Vlad was obviously here. 

_‘Call me, or else’ ~ V͚͆̑͘_

Danny winds up glaring at the ‘threat’, “‘or else’ what asshole? Fucking unnecessarily vague prick”. While Valerie just mutters, “what the fuck”. Danny sighs, “Vlad’s having Danny withdrawal or maybe just wants to gloat about some plot”, snorting and smacking the paper, “this is basically his way of getting the house number without having to put in the effort to get it. Since that kind of menial shit is apparently beneath him”. Valerie blinks at him, “but breaking into someone’s apartment isn’t?”. 

Danny snorts again and nods before tilting his head, “wait, _does_ Vlad have your house number; or ours I guess?”. She gives him a confused look, “no? Why would he?”, continuing when Danny gives her an incredibly judgmental ‘you know why’ look, telling her that he absolutely _did_ know about her once working for Vlad. Awkward. Coughing, “he just has my cell and suit com”, and pointing back to the letter. 

Danny chuckles and gives the very smug reply of, “that’s what I thought”.

“Asshole”. 

Danny pats her head, earning a scowl but ignores it, “so no harm nor foul if I use your cell then. Fruity gets no house numbers”, snickering, “though if I managed to use your suit com that would confuse the shit out of him. Would be super suspicious though, rather not have him know that I know about you know. Might make him concerned that you know what I know and that I know that you know and then he’ll know that I know that you know about his you kno-”. Valerie puts a hand over his mouth, “for the love of everything stop, you can use my freaking cell”, dropping her hand and handing him her cell, “ _why_ you want to actually call him, I don’t know”.

Danny taps his chin and hums, speaking a bit sarcastically, “well it might be because he’ll probably resort to tasering and abducting me to his secret lab slash torture chamber again. Or maybe he’ll drop me in a jungle and sic a ghost animal army on me again. Or he might turn the building invisible while I’m in the bathroom again. Oh joy, so many options”. Valerie just stares at him while he smirks and dials away, him saying “shhhh, pretend you’re not here. Yes Vlad has issues”. Valerie thumps her head on the table. 

_“Feeling a little lazy today are we, Daniel?”_

“What can I say? You’re not very high on my priority list, Vladdie. So what made you deign to expend your energy on little ol’ me on this previously fine cloudy day? I’m sure whatever it is is just _riveting_ and in no shape, way, or form a colossal waste of everyone’s time. Did you come to the realisation that you totally and unabashedly love me more than _dear sweet Maddie_? Yes, I said Maddie, not mom, and sorry to say but Val’s already claimed my ass; so what else you wanna know?”. 

_“Do you **want** a genuine murder attempt today?”_

Danny shrugs, “eh, it’s been a while. You just know how _antsy_ I get when no one tries to kill me. Going more than a week without being in perilous danger really cramps my style”. 

_“I highly doubt miss Gray would take well to that sort of talk. So I take it she isn’t around”_

“Bitch, whatcha think?”. 

_“And yet you are using her cell. My, stealing, certainly growing up aren’t we”_

Danny rolls his eyes, “I asked, you ass. Unlike you, I don’t gain things via immoral bullshit like mass overshadowing voters or invisibly robbing banks. Or _bugging people’s apartments_ for that matter. I almost hope you go broke with the amount of money you waste on shit you know I’m going to destroy. I mean really”.

_“I’m merely impressed you found them all. Did you have that techno pet put them to good use, or simply destroy them?”_

“No, I pissed on them to establish my territory. _Of course I destroyed them_ vampire ass. Also, no matter how many times you say it, Tuck’s still not my pet. Furry or not”. Danny covers the mic when Valerie chokes at that. 

_“I don’t care whether he wears otter tails and pays a frankly impressive amount for art. As for other que-“._

Danny cuts him off, “did you just admit to knowing what a furry is? _And_ knowing Tuck’s sona? Wow you really _do_ love us so very much, don’t you”. Danny can tell Valerie’s physically restraining laughter at this point. 

_“That’s hardly the reason, boy. Now what could be so bothersome for you to renounce Maddie? And what of that dolt of a father? The only care I have for your folly with that Huntress is the reminder that you lack sense it that head of yours. Which I’m certain you must get from Jack”._

Danny scowls at the air and growls out, “Google’s free, Vlad. The _murder attempt_ is pretty damn fucking viral”, snorting and muttering more so to himself, “though getting offed at a funereal _would_ be a pretty amusing way to go”, scowling again, “and don’t you worry your ugly villainous mug, Jack’s as dead to me as she is. And sure he’s the one who attempted to blow my head off and interrupted my love affair with free food”, snarling a little, “but at least he wasn’t the one who tied to remove a _certain thing”_.

Vlad’s silent for a bit, _“she wouldn't-_ ”.

Danny cuts him off with an eye roll and sits at the table, “she did, or at least tried. And considering she already hates you, at least vaguely, what do you think she’d do to _you_ ”, Danny hopes that point gets across. Vlad may be a villain, but he’s still the only other natural halfa and doesn’t deserve to have to deal with the same shit he’s getting from the Fenton’s. Vlad needs to stay away from those two as much as Danny does; and keep them from finding out about the elder halfa. Now that they know about halfas, Vlad’s technically in more danger from them. So sue him, he was protecting the man. Shaking his head, “moving on. As for Val, I somehow doubt she’ll try to off me in my sleep”. Valerie makes all the motions of smacking him over the head, without actually doing so. 

_“That is... unfortunate-”._

Danny coughs, “are you saying you _want_ her to shoot me?”. 

_“That is hardly the part I’m referring to, boy. But you are... staying with her? Not returning to Fenton Works?”._

Danny huffs, “they're no family of mine anymore”, probably not so tactfully changing subjects, “still haven’t figured out a new last name though”. 

“ _Fudgenuts_ ”, it sounds like Vlad took a fortifying sip of wine or maybe whiskey, “ _well I certainly wouldn’t object to ‘Masters’ and I am certain that dinky apartment is rather lacking in space and comforts”._

Danny looks like he is actively sucking on a lemon, “I am not taking your name, fucking Ancients, do you _ever chill?_ And no, I am _not_ going to live with you. I’d go back to the streets first-”. 

Vlad cuts in, “ _you were **on the streets**?-_”.

Which Danny doesn’t so much as acknowledge, “besides, you’d miss making villainous plans with me in mind”, when Vlad says nothing Danny starts laughing, “oh Ancients you would!”, sitting at and laughing hard into the table, “Ancients you have _so many issues_ ”.

_“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Daniel. I am a model of mental health”._

Danny snorts, “you can’t tell me you truly believe that. A therapist would have a field day with you”, rubbing his neck, “granted, same probably goes for me”, Valerie gives him a concerned look for that, which he rolls his eyes at. “You’re more the crazy lonely stalker kind of damaged though. I’m just a bag of traumas and paranoia, the bad puns and witty snark are just the sprinkles”. 

_“There are times you genuinely worry me, boy. My house **is** open though, regardless of your insufferable behaviour and snuffing of me. And if the father position is free the paperwork only needs signing-”._

“Not happening”, Danny blinks, “wait, do you just keep adoption papers on hand? Unbelievable. No. Just, no”, he puts his head in his hands and shakes his head.

_“It never hurts to be prepared. And I’m certain nothing untoward would have happened if **someone** didn’t overwrite my cameras every time I replace them”. _

Danny rolls his eyes, “I managed fine on my own”, covering the speaker again at Valerie giving him a disbelieving snort, “now, are you done? Or do you still feel like being a pain in the ass?”. 

_“Very well. My offer still stands of course. Do **try** to behave yourself. Though I must ask bluntly, do they know about me as well?”. _

Danny shakes his head, “no, your not-so-little secret is safe. Though I doubt they’d tell me if they did”. Vlad just hums and hangs up. Danny snorts down at the phone and rolls his eyes, “not so much as a thank you”.

Valerie shoves him, “does that man ever genuinely thank anyone?”. Danny snickers, “fair”. Before Valerie continues, “man you know Vlad well, you knew exactly what he wanted. Kinda creepy honesty. So you were serious about Vlad ‘wanting’ you?”. Danny huffs, “keep thy enemy close. Knowing Vlad’s ways well has saved more than one life. Like that time he injected Jazz with self-destructing nanobots. Also yes, he is _that_ serious”, frowning, “though at this point I’d rather take his offer than go back with the Fenton’s. At least Vlad’s murder attempts aren’t meant to honestly kill me, just mild maiming and being annoying”. 

Valerie shakes her head, “that’s pretty fucked up Danny, but I get it, kinda. You’re not _actually_ going to though, are you?”. Danny snorts, “Ancients no. Vlad would have to do a ton of self-improvement for me to even consider being a Masters”. Making her laugh and pat his back, “good, that’s good. Though it sounds like he didn’t even ask if I knew about the half-ghost thing”. Danny shrugs, “he probably doesn’t care much. That, or he’ll assume I wouldn’t dare tell you”, which to be fair, he _hadn’t_ told her. About himself _or_ Vlad. 

Valerie shakes her head and gets up, reclaiming her phone before picking up the bags they -Danny- dropped, “ignoring how much he apparently doesn’t give a shit about me, after all he never bugged my place till you moved in”, she rolls her eyes at his sheepish look and neck rubbing, “how about we get these put away?”. Danny chuckles and gets up with a nod, putting the loaf away before following her to the bedroom. He was going to eat that, it was free after all, and the ghost in him would enjoy the ecto.


	8. Friendship Furies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny couldn't keep his freinds out of the loop forever.

A month goes by, with more than a few ghost fights, the random appearance of a large home warming gift basket that Danny’s positive is from Vlad, and one instance when Danny ran into the Fenton’s (as Phantom) and they _walked away from him_ at a very brisk pace. A little while after that wonderful encounter Valerie gets a shock of her own, when she walks in to see Danny talking with some weird green-haired girl.

“So just let him get his ass kicked by a girl. Take his ego down a few pegs...”, Danny trails off as both of them look at Valerie, who’s just standing in the doorway confused. The girl looks to Danny raising an eyebrow in concern, Danny waves her concern off, “she’s fine. Anyways, then you save his ass. If he’s not blind he’ll see you’re not some weak thing to be pushed around”. The girl smirks, “that’s actually pretty sneaky. You always seem to come in useful with relationship crap. Maybe I really should have stayed your girl”, she finishes with a wide playful grin as she stands up. 

Danny rolling his eyes, “that ship has not only sailed but I’m taken, in case that wasn’t obvious”. Valerie crosses her arms and glares at this girl as if to prove a point. The girl giggles, “yes and you’re both idiots”. Danny mutters, “hey”, only slightly indignantly. 

She waves him off before digging in her bag, “I know you’re looking for stuff like this so here, and consider that a bonus, found it with VP”, as she tosses some machinery that Danny can use for the portal and the infimap at Danny, who catches them wide-eyed. Danny shakes his head and whistles a bit, “Kitty damn, how does he keep getting his hands on this? Well thanks I guess”. Kitty waves him off again, “whatever, I take pleasure in fucking that old man’s plans up and I know he shouldn’t have that. Also, I’m not stupid enough to try and keep it”. 

Thinking for a second, Danny decides to ask, “you didn’t happen to see a crown and ring there by chance? did you?”. Kitty goes wide-eyed and steps back waving her hands, “HELL NO! Does he seriously have? That’s bad. Even I know that”. Danny nods at her before speaking, “yeah, not sure where though”, and he knows there’s no point in asking Vlad outright. Kitty shakes her head, “well I hope you find it before he does anything stupid”, with that Kitty phases straight through the floor. 

Danny rubs his neck as Valerie practically launches herself off the floor. Running over she smacks Danny’s head, “were you seriously just giving dating advice to a ghost? In our living room? What the fuck?! And what did she give you?”. Danny rubs his head, “uh, yes? Her and Johnny have a pretty rocky relationship and, for whatever reason, I’m her go-to quick fix. Both of them are trouble makers but not the dangerous kind. More like the sneaking into movies and driving too fast kind. Johnny is a bit of a dick though”. Valerie sighs as Danny rubs the infimap and continues, “and this is some machinery I’ve been looking for to tinker on. This-”, Danny holds the map up a bit, “-is a ghost artifact that Vlad keeps stealing”. Valerie looks at it cautiously, “is it dangerous? And I’m guessing she gave that to you because of the prince thing? Also, did she say she dated you?”. 

Danny nods, though to what he’s saying yes about she doesn’t know, “technically it’s only dangerous if you use it to do dangerous things. Vlad keeps trying to use it to take over different kingdoms in time. Basically, this thing can find any and all natural ghost portals and take you to them. Even portals into different points in time. You could go to the Jurassic age if you wanted. And yeah the prince thing but also the ones responsible for the infimap are Frostbite and his people”, Danny then rubs at his neck, “and yeah we dated, she was having problems with Johnny so she dumped him and hooked up with me to make him jealous. I didn’t know though, she was over-shadowing Paulina, so I wound up in a weird dead love rectangle when Johnny showed up. Johnny then broke up with her and she decided she actually wanted to be with me all in the span of about three minutes. I had to stage a bunch of bullshit to get them back together and break up with Kitty”. 

Valerie sits on the couch and rubs her temples, “so you dated a ghost? Without even knowing it? And yeah I remember when you went out with Paulina, I thought that was pretty weird. You being a loser and all that, no offence”, earning a snort from Danny while she continues, “also, Vlad’s an ass, glad you got that back though that is kind of crazy that it can do that. I’m guessing you’re going to have to make a trip, or whatever, to return it?”. Danny smirks, “naw, the map can send itself home if I tell it to. Besides, I’d have no way to get back without it. But yes, I didn’t know she was a ghost. Easily the weirdest relationship ever”. 

Valerie shakes her head as she makes herself some tea, this situation calls for tea, “you want anything?”. 

“Coffee, black”.

Valerie smirks as she makes her tea, “you are way too addicted to caffeine. And I’m almost tempted to tell you no and hide everything with caffeine”, Danny frowns deeply at her but she gets him his drink anyways. Continuing as she pours their drinks, “sadly even my sensors can’t pick up on overshadowing”.

He chuckles as Valerie hands him his coffee, “I’m surprised your sensors didn’t go off now. Recharging or something? Which of course means there was a ghost fight”. Valerie nods as she sits down with her tea, “yup, though at this point if you’re being chill around a ghost I’m not going on the assault because I never know what the Hell’s going on. Also, before you ask I’m fine. Got a bit of a burn on my elbow but that’s it. Just some animal ghosts”. 

“Well that’s good”, Danny glances at her arm, able to tell she’s already wrapped it up. He doesn’t like that she got hurt, he could have helped or gotten involved at least but he was busy with another ghost. But this is her job, what she does; same as him. He can’t stop her from doing it, shouldn’t. And if he lets every injury she gets or every fight he’s not involved in haunt him, then he’ll just hurt her and their relationship. Just the same if she worries about all his crap and runs around trying to stop him, not that she actually knows it all. Her walking in on stuff like this doesn’t help though, “don’t mean to make your life confusing though”. 

Valerie pats his leg, “yeah I know, you just bring crazy with you”. Just then the house phone goes off and it’s an unknown number, Valerie picks it up anyways. Danny, like always feels bad about overhearing everything.

Valerie leans against the counter, “hello?”.

_“Hey, I was told to call here for Danny? I tried calling his house but got major static from his dad and given this number?”._

Valerie blinks, that boy seriously never told them. She glares in Danny’s direction disappointedly, “oh, uh this is Sam isn’t it? And yeah he’s here. I’m guessing you want to talk to him?”

_“Yes and definitely”._

“Alright, One sec”. 

Valerie walks out of the kitchen, phone in hand and gives it to Danny, glaring sligtly, “it’s Sam, you should tell her”. Danny sighs as he takes the phone, mic covered, “I doubt I’ll have a choice since she talked to Jack”. Valerie raises an eyebrow at that but takes her tea to the bedroom to give Danny some privacy, as Danny talks to Sam.

Danny leans back into the couch, “what’s up Sam?”.

_“Danny, where are you and was that Valerie? And what’s up with your dad? He sounded kind of freaked as soon as I said your name?”._

Danny snorts, guess they’re still pretty freaked out. Whatever, he’s past giving too much of a damn. Probably should answer her questions before she starts getting pissy, “yeah that was Val, I’m living with her now-”.

Sam cuts Danny off, “ _what?! Why?! Since when? Does this have to do with your dad being freaked? Are you two dating again?”._

Danny chuckles, “yeah we’re dating again. But they, well, they _found out_ , Sam”.

_“You mean the secret or Valerie?”._

Danny sighs, “the secret, Sam. That’s why I’m here. They kicked me out”, though he wouldn’t be here if Valerie hadn’t pushed for it, which he’s rather thankful for now.

_“WHAT!!!”._

Danny winces and pulls his ear away from the phone, “ow, watch the ghost ears”. 

Sam huffs, “ _sorry but why the Zone didn't you tell any of us?! Does Jazz even know?!”._

Danny rubs his neck, “I didn’t want to worry you guys or have you running away from uni. You guys got futures, you shouldn’t drop them just ‘cause the Fenton’s are dicks”.

There’s a pause for a bit, _“did, did you just call them ‘the Fenton’s’? Seriously Danny just **what did they do**? I am so going to kill them!”._

Danny chuckles and runs a hand through his hair, “Val already called dibs on that and that was before she stole from them, assaulted them, and got them thrown in jail”.

“ _WHAT_!!!”, Danny pulls away from the phone again and hisses, _“sorry, sorry. Holy Hell, Danny. **What did they do?”**._

Danny rubs at his ear, “attempted to murder me at a funeral. Which now that I think about it more, it absolutely _is_ downright hilarious, if a bit traumatising”.

_“Wow, just Wow. That is low. They seriously reacted **that** badly?”._

Danny sighs and looks out the window, “yeah and there’s video proof of it too. Tuck could probably find it. But that was months after they kicked me out”.

_“Wait. How long has it been! Danny!?”_

Danny rubs his neck, knowing she was going to be pretty pissed, “over half a year now. I know I know, I’m an idiot for not telling you. I really didn’t want to get you involved in my shit”.

_“Danny, we’re always involved in your shit, but I won’t drop out if that makes you feel any better. But when I visit I **am** flipping them off at least once. How are you living with Valerie and not getting caught? I know she hasn’t hunted you for a while but still?”._

“Sam, an Observant literally showed up in the kitchen in front of her. Jack's stunt broke more than a couple laws, one being a Falling Kings Decree”.

_“Oh my Zone Danny. We are going to have a lot to talk about when I visit. But seriously, how has she not found out”._

Danny scrunches up his eyebrows, “I’m not entirely sure, but at this point, she’s going to”, he should just man up and tell her honestly. 

_“I hope you know what you're doing then Danny”._

Danny can’t help but smirk at that, “I think I just might. For once”.

_“You moron. I really can’t believe you, but I’ll let you go and I **am** telling Tucker. But Jazz, you’re dealing with, **she’s your sister”.**_

“Yeah yeah. I’ll try not to die, again... Alright, bye Sam”.

_“Bye Danny, don’t be stupid”._

With that they both hung up. Danny heads over to the bedroom and sticks his head in, “well that went better than expected. She was mad though, might have blown out my eardrum”. Valerie rolls her eyes as she pats for him to sit down, “duh, I would be too if I were her. You really are a dumbass for not telling them. And good, maybe that’ll teach you a lesson”. 

Danny rolls his eyes but shrugs as he sits down, “they would have dropped out to give me a place to stay. I’m not going to let them fuck up their futures like that”. Valerie shakes her head, “you’re too damn self-sacrificing, Danny”.

* * *

Danny’s surprised it takes two whole months to get a rather angry call from Tucker, Valerie tossing the phone at him while grumbling, “deal with your womanising techno-geek, I’m getting groceries”. 

Danny puts the phone to his ear just as Tucker whines, _“but Valerie, distance won’t change that I’m still too fine”_. 

“Congrats Tuck, you chased her off”.

_“Good, now she can’t overhear anything”._

Danny rolls his eyes, “and people say _I’m_ the paranoid one”. 

_“Shut it, dude. First, the Fenton’s suck but that’s for another time. Second, you go from living with ‘hunters’ plural to ‘hunters’ singular, you must like getting shot. Though I get it, she is cute and doesn’t want you totally obliterated out of existence. But man, you shoulda told us, at the very least let me wire you some cash! I mean Sam I get, she **can** be kinda crazy. But I’m not stupid, dude. Anyway, do you need any tech help, ‘cause I doubt you’ve got access to much of any Fenton tech”._

Danny blinks, “did you call just to be my guy in the chair? I think that barely qualified as chewing me out”.

_“It’s what you do, dude”._

Danny winces, “ouch. Way to make me feel like an asshole, Tuck”. 

_“You should feel like one. You’ve done this kind of shit your whole life, I’m used to it. You just normally don’t take it this far. You don’t need to carry everything on your shoulders man, that’s what having a support squads for. Speaking of that, is Valerie team Phantom yet?”._

Danny rubs his neck, “she’s still in the dark”.

_“I’m not sure if that’s good, bad, or just really weird. Congrats for not sucking at secret identities I guess? Though if she knew and you actually let us help you, you could probably have come here; Zone, Valerie probably could have. They have a great space program”._

Danny grimaces, now Tucker’s just being mean. Which fine, is fair and probably called for, “you _know_ I can’t really leave Amity. Not for that long. I can’t just not do what I do, Tuck. I have _needs_ to placate”, Danny pauses and looks up at the door opening, Valerie coming back in and dropping the stuff on the table. “Well that didn’t take long”, making sure Tucker knew she was here. Valerie just waves him off and scowls at the phone. Danny raises an eyebrow but goes back to his conversation with Tucker, who’s studiously stayed quiet, “and long-distance wouldn’t have worked for me. Even if I had graduated it wouldn’t have worked out, dude. Also, what did you say to Val, ‘cause I think she hates your existence at the moment. She looks like she wants to smash the phone with a hammer and drown it in wet cement”; Valerie rolls her eyes at him but gets to work putting everything away.

_“Wish that wasn’t the case, man. And I might have asked her if she was wearing the pants because her ass would look good in spandex and if it was stretchy enough to fit another pair of legs”._

Danny blinks and scowls, “forget I asked. Your pick-up lines are worse than _Vlad’s_ , at least he has tact. Evil tact, but still tact. No trying to solicit my girlfriend”. 

_“Hey! Comparing me to him is uncalled for. At least I’m funny”._

Danny chuckles, “I don’t know Tuck, you’re both going after taken ladies. Seems fair”. Valerie chokes and starts laughing. 

_“I’m not being serious and you know it! But fine, you have a small tiny point. Now I’ll ask again, need any tech help?”._

Danny sighs, “well I can’t get one of the ecto-proton carborators to stop pointing left and the FW bugs should probably be put to actual use, all things considered”. 

_“Have you tried sticking a secondary magnet in it and making sure your shit isn’t contaminating it, ‘cause we both know the stuff you make is nearly just as finicky as FW stuff. And consider it done, see what kind of monitor I’ll need. You want me to tack this phone into the PSS system?”._

“I don’t think the landlady would appreciate you hacking the apartment phone. And Vlad’s got Val’s cell”, Danny tilts his head, a devilish grin growing, “actually, feel like either discovering that Vlad’s slightly less shit than previously thought or doing a little back-hack?”.

Danny can physically feel Tucker’s grin, “ _and suddenly, I'm no longer mad at you. I’m going to enjoy this”._

Danny gets up and walks into the kitchen, grinning rather meanly, “hey Val, can I have your phone?”. Valerie looks to him and grimaces, he looked like he was plotting someone's murder and enjoying it very much, “I don’t like that look on your face. Why?”.

“Something illegal, but it’ll piss Vlad off”.

Valerie hands Danny her cell with a matching grin, that was a worthy cause and made her totally cool with Danny looking slightly villainous. While Danny phones Tucker on the cell, hanging up the house phone, “have fun dude”.

_“I will and yup, this phone’s been hacked **so much**_ ”, Tucker pauses and Danny can hear the frown in his voice, “ _not just fruity dude, maybe don’t use this phone for a while, see ya”._

Making Danny grimace, “will do, bye”, and hang up. The Fenton’s couldn’t hack their way out of a microwave, which just leaves the G.I.W.. He couldn’t see any others wanting to hack the Red Huntress’s phone. Valerie raises an eyebrow at him as he walks to his bags, pulls out what looks like a ball of jello, and shoves the cell into it. Her blinking, “what are you doing to my cell and that’s not jello, is it”.

Danny tosses the ball in the air, “soundproof, won’t hurt your phone no worries”, frowning at her, “so obviously Tuck’s a hacker, and you can generally tell if someone has been digging in stuff unless they’re good at covering their tracks. From the sounds of it, your phones been hacked enough to resemble Swiss cheese. And not just by Vlad”. Valerie gives the appropriate frown, “goddamnit, what the fuck. Shoulda figured that asshole would pull something like this”, sighing, “as for the other hacks, G.I.W. you think?”.

“That’s my guess yeah, and I trust Vlad more than them”. 

Valerie frowns, “they are pretty extreme, and the law doesn’t seem to really apply to them. Didn’t they shoot a missile into a crowd of people once?”. Danny nods, “also tried to nuke the Ghost Zone”. Valerie blinks at him, “that... that just sounds like a bad idea”. 

Danny nods, “yup, would’ve annihilated the universe. They’re a problem that’s gonna have to be dealt with someday. But hey, at least they won’t be using you as an unwitting informant”, he seriously hopes it turns out that they were only recording phone conversations not everything that was being said in range of the speakers. And if it was, then Tucker can wipe out their systems and hopefully none of them have been paying attention to the data. ’Cause the reveal of him having powers and the High Ghost Prince thing would be bad for them to know about. 

Valerie shakes her head, “Jesus Christ that’s fucked up. Do you think they got anything off me that would be bad? And what about my suit?”, considering Danny looked a little panicky he was probably wondering the same. Danny takes a breath, “well, they haven’t come after me for the Prince thing so they might have nothing. Tuck’ll let me know. If they, or Vlad for that matter, got anything, he’ll wipe it. Maybe but a bug into _their_ stuff. As for your suit, Tuck has tried to hack it before, its got some weird ghostly protections and is effectively unhackable”. 

Valerie sighs and tosses a magazine on the table before sitting, she’s not pleased Tucker even tried hacking her but she trusts he wouldn’t do anything nefarious. And if this means she doesn’t have to worry about part of her body being hacked, then she’s happy he did that, “well that’s good, sorry if I got you in trouble Danny”. Danny predictably waves her off, “eh, it’s just my typical luck. Least we know now, and putting you through the PSS will keep it from happening again”, when Valerie quirks an eyebrow at him he explains, “the PSS is a secure secret server thingy Tuck made, I won't claim to understand how it works. But he could probably get arrested for terrorism and a lot of other things because of it. But it’s secure, and PDA compatible”. 

“Just how illegal are we talking here?”. 

Danny rubs his neck, “he _might_ have blown up a satellite with it once”. 

Valerie just blinks at him for a bit, that was more than just kinda illegal, “I never thought I’d be saying Tucker’s scary, but Tucker’s scary”. Danny shrugs and laughs a little, “everyone around me is. The only reason Dash doesn’t bully girls is because Sam stuffed a bundle of poison ivy in his mouth once, and Vlad doesn’t come after me legally because Sam could sue him broke with a phone call. And Jazz effectively psychoanalysed someone into turning themselves into a ghost, which kinda requires dying”, sure _technically_ he was the catalyst for that but it was all Jazz’s idea and plan; he was just a cog in it. 

Valerie puts her head down, “that’s insane. With friends like that, you never stood a chance of being normal”. Danny sticks his fingers in her hair and ruffles it up, before kissing her head and getting up, “and now you’re part of the crazy”. She chuckles, flipping open the magazine, “somehow I think I have been ever since I donned the red hood and botched my education”. 

Danny frowns a little as he starts pulling out pans to get to the pots, “you could’ve let Phantom handle things so you could study. Petty hatred of him notwithstanding”. She just shrugs, “eh, I’m content”, watching him start making spaghetti, “though Danny? I remember you always wanted to be an astronaut back when we were younger, what happened to that?”. Danny sighs as he stirs, first Tucker now her?, “the big secret happened. Tanked all my grades”. Valerie looks up from her magazine, “that secret sure seems to involve a lot of your life. If I had to guess it’s also where you run off to all the time or why”. 

Danny nods as he lifts the pot to scoop noddles into their bowls, “is it cheesy if I say it’s who I am and my everything, that I die for it?”. Valerie glares at him as he gives her her bowl, “it’s more concerning than cheesy, still cheesy though. But you know, not too long ago you felt like a monster over it. So I think you just have issues”. Danny rubs his neck awkwardly, “eh yeah I get like that about it sometimes. Don’t help that people keep telling me I am. But I meant it when I told you I wouldn’t trade it away”. Valerie sighs, “yeah and I’ll keep telling you’re not a monster. But who the Hell is telling you that, besides the Fenton’s anyway?”. 

“Er, well, you see, um, well, every single ghost knows”.

Valerie drops her spoon at that, “WHAT!”, pinching her nose, “Danny, just what? Why? How? And for you being so damn secretive about it, that makes no sense”, seriously, this is exactly the opposite of what she’d expect with Danny. Sure ghosts knowing the Ghost Prince thing makes sense, but anything else? Especially something that seems to just have to do with his own body. 

“Uh, ghosts gossip a lot, that’s why most know. Ancients, most knew before I ever met them”, Danny shrugs as he slurps down the last of his noodles, he’s honestly not even sure how they all figured it out so fast. 

Valerie shakes her head, grumbling, “so keeping secrets with ghosts is basically impossible”, she shouldn’t be surprised, what else are they going to do with their afterlives? Sighing, “do they seriously give you shit over it?”. Danny chuckles, almost choking on a noodle, “I’m not sure I have a single secret from them. Well no, I have one. ClockWork is the only ghost besides the Observants who know about _that_ ”. 

Valerie frowns, she’s going to assume the ‘ _that_ ’ is the ‘Dan’ situation; which she’s not going to make him talk about again. But it’s crazy that Danny is _that_ open with ghosts, especially when he barely seems to trust humans; it’s definitely weird, “geez that’s ridiculous. It’s almost like you trust ghosts more than humans. Which I guess in death that’s okay, but right now that’s pretty messed up Danny”. 

Danny shrugs, he knows it’s probably screwy but he has good reasons; Ancients, the Fenton’s were a prime example. Plus he has proof that humanity knowing about him would be flat out bad; maybe if he explains that she’ll understand a little, “well there was this time when the entire world found out but I reversed time to undo it because the government was trying to murder me”. Valerie’s spoon drops yet again as her mouth hangs open. Danny rubs his neck, not sure what part particularly startled her, “don’t worry I don’t have that ability and ClockWork didn’t help me out, it was a weird glove thing that some crazy dude stole and made a circus from Hell with. The gloves been destroyed, but I’m still mad at that ass for turning me into jello”. 

Valerie opens and closes her mouth a few times before speaking, “Danny, what? The government tried to _kill you_? Jesus, no wonder you don’t tell people and now I’m even more concerned about what this secret is. I’m not even going to comment on the jello thing”, shaking her head, “what is your life”. Danny smirks, “the _death of me_ that’s what”, just as he’s going to continue his ghost sense goes off and there’s a knock at the door. 

Danny jumps up and rips the door open, tearing off the deadbolt. Floating in the doorway is the Ghastly Mailman holding out a letter, he gives Danny a curt nod as he takes the letter before the ghost flies off. Jesse has her head sticking out of her door, curious about the new ghost aura. They lock eyes, “Leather, you got ghost mail. I’m not sure if that’s an achievement or worrying”. Danny shrugs as they both hear Valerie shout, “Danny! You broke the door!”. 

Danny blinks a few times before inspecting the door, promptly blushing at the obvious damage, “whoops”. Jesse shakes her head, “like I’ve said, I’m pretty sure you’re a god”, Jesse closes her door as Danny stares.

Then slowly walking back in he looks to Valerie and points his thumb over his shoulder, “since when had she called me a god?”. Sighing Valerie mutters, “since she met you apparently”. 

Danny shakes his head as he closes the door and inspects the brutalised deadbolt, “well shit”, turning back to Valerie, “we’re going to have to pay for that aren’t we?”. Valerie glares at him. “Okay, _I’m_ paying for it”. He groans as she nods at him, guess the bottle money won’t be going to his coffee stash this week. Giving the bottle depot all his business is one thing that’s stuck with him from his time on the streets; if he saw a bottle, he picked it up.

Sitting down, he opens the letter and surprisingly it’s an invite to a Christmas dance. A ghost Christmas dance but still. Danny chuckles, “well I guess I should have seen that coming, it is about that time”. With everything going on he had rather forgotten about the Christmas Truce. Was still a while away of course, but folks liked to send invites early; the Zone was huge, took a while for things to get around. Especially if one of your invitees was in a _different realm._

Valerie raises an eyebrow and she quickly pushes herself up to look down at the letter. Danny smirks as her face furrows in confusion, “what language even is that? I didn’t know you knew multiple languages”. Danny grins devilishly before saying a bunch of random shit in ghost speak. Valerie looks completely impressed, “well for once your secret is relatively normal”. 

Danny rubs his neck as he explains himself, “actually it’s ghost speak. Ghosts have a universal language”. Valerie smacks her forehead, figures, “I spoke too soon. Why are you getting letters in ghost? What is it about time for? And also why did you brutalise the door? You didn’t even check who was there?”. Danny’s blush returns full force, “this is the point where I mention that I can sense ghosts. You’ve uh, seen how my breath fogs up? It does that whenever a ghost is near. So I knew it was a ghost at the door”. Valerie slams her head on the table, “I could have so used that”. Danny’s just once again _really_ glad for the cameras being fake. 

Lifting her head up she puts her chin in her palm, elbow on the table, “so not only is it in ghost but also from a ghost? The only reason I’m not going after them is because of that door breaking stunt you pulled”. Danny chuckles, “yeah I think you missed your scanner going off which is almost impressive. Though technically my ghost sense isn’t really a different power, it’s part of the ice thing. And the letter is for a Christmas dance and party”, Danny taps the paper, “looks like the Draconics kingdom is hosting it”. 

Valerie shakes her head, “I’m still adding that to the list of Danny-is-a-super-human. And why are you being invited to a ghost Christmas thing, Hell since when do ghosts do Christmas?”. Danny can’t help but laugh at that, “that was my thoughts the first time! Basically there’s something called the Christmas Truce, happens every year. Ghosts all met up and make merry. Usually they go to whatever party has the most ghosts they know, friend or foe. No fighting is allowed”. Valerie shakes her head, “that doesn’t explain why you’re invited? You’re not a ghost”. 

Danny chuckles, “ghost prince for one, for two I am enough to them, and for three Dora’s the Draconics Queen, so she's basically the hostess”. Valerie looks kind of confused but she also realises the prince thing had slipped her mind, “yeah, I think I forgot about the prince situation for a bit there. Not quite sure how though. And I don’t think you explicitly mentioned Dora was _a queen_. Though let me guess, her and the rest of the ghosts will be mad if you don’t go?”. 

Danny nods and crosses his arms playfully, “they’ll come looking for me and assume I’m in danger. The very first year, I actually was kind of in danger and they all went to fight the guy responsible. It was a mess. Asshole trapped me inside his damn storybook because I blew his first one up. It’s was a poetry book too, so everyone was talking in rhymes. Got out of it by throwing an orange. ‘Cause, y’ know, nothing rhymes with orange. Every year since I’ve gone, so assumptions would be made”. Valerie sighs, “I wanted a normal explanation and I got something wild. Your life is a mess. But yes I guess you should go then. And I guess if an ally of yours is hosting no one will try to harm you”. 

Danny snorts, “truce implies no hurting anyone allowed. Though yeah I honestly don’t know if my life will be more odd or less odd when my heart finally gives out or whatever”. Tapping the paper he looks at her kind of nervously, “technically... you could come too?”. She gives him a quizzical look, “uh I’m a hunter Danny, I don’t think that’s such a great idea. And somehow I doubt you’re asking me to come for protection”. 

“Course not”, Danny rubs his neck, “and well, half the point is for enemies to not be enemies for a night. And you’ve already met most of the ghosts that’ll likely be there. Weapons are allowed, so you wouldn’t have to be unarmed, just no using them on each other”. Valerie raises an eyebrow at this, finding that incredibly hard to believe, “and everyone actually abides by this? That’s actually impressive”, sighing at his nod before continuing, “I don’t know, Danny. I’m not sure I could even feel comfortable, but if you’d really like me there, I’ll go. But I’ll be staying by you the whole time, I’ll be pissed if you leave me alone”, she makes a point to glare at him so he knows she’s serious. But softens when Danny smiles wide and bright, which makes it worth it for her even if she’s nervous and not particularly keen on going to a _ghost party._

“I’d like that, it is in the Ghost Zone though and I promise no one’s going to even try to hurt you”. This is a great way for her to meet some friendlier ghosts! Normalise them a bit more to her. And he feels pretty attached to her, so this, them being a them, probably wasn’t for the short term. And she was basically High Princess Consort to-be so long as she was his girlfriend. 

Valerie’s nods, “figured it would be”, she gets up to put away their dishes when her sock suddenly feels wet. Looking down she realises it’s blood and it’s coming from Danny’s leg, “Danny!”, making him jump, “you’re bleeding! Get on the counter!”. Danny snaps his head down at his leg, which Valerie absolutely notices, clearly he knew about the injury. 

“Oh shit, I’m a dumbass”. 

Valerie glares at him and repeats herself, “counter, Danny”. 

Danny rubs his neck as he hops up. He cringes at what he knows the wound looks like as he pulls up his pant leg. Valerie glares at him angrily and smacks him over the head as she runs off to get the medical supplies. Leaving him muttering to himself, “I think I would have permanent brain damage if she knew just how much I get hurt”.

Valerie aggressively throws medical shit all over the counter as she gets back, “Danny, I don’t even know _how_ to treat this. How did this happen? It looks like someone _rammed poles through your leg_ and then _yanked on them_ ”. Danny gives a bit of a lopsided grin as he inspects the three large ripped up holes himself. Before replying as Valerie wipes blood off the leg, “you’re pretty close actually, but it was fishhooks. Very big ones. And yeah they were yanked on”, Danny squints his eyes, annoyed, at the wall muttering, “yanked straight into a wall you dick. I liked that wall”.

Valerie glares at him, “yeah and I liked your leg intact and you know I want to see your torso now too”, she had gotten more than one broken rib from being thrown into walls and she had a protective suit. Danny didn’t.

Danny rubs his neck before taking his shirt off, revealing the bandages underneath. Groaning, Valerie starts removing them, eventually revealing multiple bruises, two partly healed puncture marks, a burn, and that his back is basically one giant bruise with what looks like over-sized claw marks. Danny thanks himself that nothing bleeds. While Valerie scowls, “Danny, just _how many_ injuries do you hide? There’s no way these are all fresh. And I want the truth”, she emphasises that last part with a glare. Danny grumbles, “I don’t drill you when you’re hurt?”, granted that’s partly because if he knows it’ll pester his Obsession, “but unless it’s serious, I just handle myself”.

She puts one hand on her hip and points the other at his leg, “is that not serious to you?! Can that even _heal_?! And Danny, nearly every injury I’ve seen from you is worse than nearly every injury I’ve ever gotten. Plus we both know how I got mine without any asking. I don’t know how you get any of yours. Because if it’s _this_ frequent there’s _no way_ it's coincidence“, then snapping, “now do you know how to treat this?”. 

Danny looks to the ceiling, there’s no point hiding his freakish inhuman healing here, “all I do is clean it and wrap it. Give it about twenty-four hours and it’ll be fine”, sighing, “and yeah no, this isn’t what I call serious, it’s not impairing me, no major blood loss, and I ain’t dying from this”, looking back to her and rubbing his neck, “basically serious to me means near or most likely deadly. And a good seventy-four percent of the time it’s Skulker’s fault”. 

Valerie looks like she wants to punch him, that is completely ridiculous, “so what? you just wrap and ignore anything that won’t freaking kill you? That’s completely insane!”, Valerie starts angrily unrolling bandaging since his legs already been cleaned off. 

Danny cringes, “yeah I guess that does sound kind of out there. I’m just really used to my healing, okay?”, and wasn’t that the truth? Sometimes he forgot something as small as a bullet wound or knife to the gut was deadly for most people. Valerie glares at him but doesn’t say anything, as she wraps his leg in silence. 

Valerie speaks up angrily after a while, “I’m going to guess your other shit doesn’t need anything does it?”. Danny shakes his head looking rather guilty. Valerie sighs with clearly restrained anger, “look Danny, I know your healing is weird but wounds like this are something no one should have to be used to. Especially not enough to just shrug them off”. Danny shrugs stiffly, “well you’re right, but it’s not like my existence even qualifies as normal”, to be fair even the Far Frozen doctor he sees for check-ups usually looked a little alarmed when she had him do a rundown of all the major injuries he’s gotten since his last visit.

Valerie flicks his head, “I didn’t say it did, neither of us have remotely normal lives. That doesn’t change anything though. Hell, I’d be worried even if I saw this kind of stuff on a _ghost_ ”. Danny smirks a little, “aw you care about them. Though most ghosts would heal within minutes to hours from this. Depending on lots of factors”, a few holes in a limb and scratches _was_ minor to ghosts after all.

She still glares at him, “even if you healed that insanely fast I’d still be upset at you and tell you to try to keep yourself out of trouble or learn to fucking _dodge_ ”. Danny actually starts laughing at that, “I’ve been told I’m a chronic non-dodger or that I dodge in really stupid ways. I have just stood there and gotten stabbed before. The only reason Maddie didn’t succeed in shooting me point-blank in the head with a bazooka is ‘cause the charge was dead. It was just one that makes portals though so it's not like it would have hurt me”. 

Valerie smacks him on the head, “what the fuck Danny. You really are a dumbass. Do I need to give you damn self-defence lessons? And how are you getting into situations that get you hurt so damn often?”. Danny is suddenly a fair bit panicked, wondering what the in the Zone he is supposed to say to that, “uh Val, I don’t think that’s needed. Strength outweighs dodging. And there’s a lot of reasons, I’m usually around when there’s a ghost issue”. Valerie sits on the table, “so what? you’re doing what I am, just like an idiot? Without any weapons or a suit to protect you? Or you’re trying to talk to them. I know you got the ice thing and intangibility but that doesn’t really compare. And Danny no, you should fucking dodge. Though yeah I’ve seen you pull off some freaky strong things, which I’m guessing your contamination thing plays into”, shaking her head, “I never thought I’d see the day where you, of all people, turned out to be fighting ghosts or whatever”. 

Danny rubs his neck, that was kinda the entire point of his old scaredy-cat act, “I, uh, I’ve been doing it longer than you have. That’s where I disappear to all the time”. Valerie’s stares at him incredulously, “how Danny? How have you been doing that with no one seeing you? I’m literally all over the news, there are _dolls of me_ for crying out loud!?”. 

Danny realises he sort of backed himself into a hole here. He can either willingly fall to the bottom and spill everything, or precariously cling to the edge, “well, I mean that’s why I’d run off right after. And it is partly because, well... ah...”, at that Danny turns himself invisible; he’s clinging to the edge for now, see how she reacts. He’ll go from there.

Valerie leaps off the table, “Danny holy shit! Your abilities are starting to get very damn suspicious!”, squinting disbelievingly at the ‘empty’ air, “you’re like an ecto-blasts and a glow away from being a flat-out ghost. If you start floating around, I will slap you”. Danny replies without dropping the invisibility, “honestly, at this point I might as well just tell you the whole darn secret. My shit will make way more sense”, arguably her reaction was pretty tame. Pretty positive. 

Valerie sighs, “well don’t be an ass and do it when I can’t even see you”, putting a hand on her hip, “personally, I think it’s about damn time, I’ve been trying to get that out of you since the beginning. You’re too damn secretive for your own good. Though I also can’t say I blame you with all the weird shit that happens around you”, sighing a bit defeatedly before smiling softly at the spot where she thinks he is, “I’d just like to think you’d trust me more, you know?”.

Valerie can hear him hop off the counter, “yeah I know and I do trust you, honest. It’s just, I’ve never really told anyone without being flat-out caught in the act. That and I’m really used to it being a secret. _Especially_ from people I live with”. Valerie grimaces a bit but nods at the air, that was fair, “yeah I get that, I did hide the whole Red thing from my dad after all. And pretty much everyone else”, shaking her head with a faint laugh, “not that I did it very well back then. Also, could you cut that out now? I feel like I’m talking to myself”. 

Danny chuckles as he returns to visibility borderline touching her, directly beside her and sitting on the table; legs crossed. Valerie jumps sideways, yelps, and snaps her head towards him, “you dick!”. Danny laughs as Valerie’s face goes from annoyed to amused, him speaking with a cheeky grin, “I couldn’t resist, okay! You should see the shit I’ve pulled on Vlad”, looking down and muttering, “though blowing up his mansion may have been overboard”. Valerie slugs him in the shoulder, “yes, but he does kind of deserve it. You’re still an ass though”. Speaking up again after a beat, “so split the corpse or whatever you call it”.

Danny snickers as he hops off the table, “it’s ‘spill the corpse’, like a spin on ‘spill the beans’, but that’s way better. Dead joke, autopsy joke, and secrets revealed joke”, smirking, “nice. I approve”. Valerie glares at him, “oh god you’re corrupting me. But seriously, spill”. 

Just as Danny goes to open his mouth a portal appears and a box flies on to the table, portal closing behind it, “well if that’s what I think it is, this conversation will have to wait just a little bit. Though I’ll also have to _crown_ myself utterly impressed”, smirking, “Vladdie better look out, I’ve learned how to play chess”. Valerie facepalms, “and here I thought we were having a moment, what did you do or get someone to do for you, Mr. prince?”. 

Danny walks up and pushes his palm against the top, causing the box to unfold and collapse. Leaving a ring and crown, Valerie's eyes go wide in shock. Danny can see her jumping to conclusions right off the bat, “I can see what you’re thinking, you’re wrong. These are artifacts, like the infimap”. 

Valerie, clearly not entirely believing him, “so these aren’t your prince or king or whatever stuff? This isn’t, like, an omen of your death?”. Danny coughs at that, a bit startled, “Zone no”, pointing from one object to the next, “the Crown Of Fire and the Ring Of Rage. They were Pariah’s before Vlad stole them. Very powerful and dangerous, but you need both and if you’re weak-willed or in general weak, it’ll drive you mad and basically kill you if you keep them on”. Valerie, in mild shock, “so these make a ghost super powerful? I honestly want them destroyed then”, something like that shouldn’t be allowed to exist; ghosts, especially Pariah, were already too strong.

Danny nods, “think infinite power, not just stronger; though it’s relative to the ghost, specifically the one it was intended for. They were created by the Zone when Pariah became the High Ghost King. Pretty much specifically for him, and at the time he was the most powerful ghost there was and thus the only one actually capable of controlling them”, shaking his head disbelievingly, “Vlad’s an idiot and seems to think he’ll be able use them to gain power and control”. Valerie rubs her temples, “that’s even worse”, looking back to him, asking a bit worriedly, “are you... are you going to get something like this? How was Pariah even defeated then?”. 

Danny smirks, “the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, he was trapped in there twice. Ring and crown stripped from him because he was a mad man. And I can’t really say for sure, but most likely”, honestly? He had never thought to ask. Valerie sits down, “well at least there are checks in place. Though if I remember right, Jesse said you, in your current not dead regardless of your dead jokes state, were already stronger aura-wise than Pariah?”. Danny blushes a bit, “yeah I remember that, kind of weird. But I can’t say I’m surprised. I kind of figured. ClockWork and the Observants have pretty much implied as much”. 

Putting her cheek in her palm, “please tell me you don’t want these to use them. Heck, what are you doing with them?”. Danny frowns a bit, “Ancients no, I’m not insane or power-crazed. Unlike a certain _someone_. I’m pretty much locking them up to keep Vlad away from them”. 

Danny quickly walks off to grab his duffel bag and puts it on the table, rummaging through it. Eventually he pulls out an ecto-containment capsule, activating it around the two objects and shrinking it down to the size of a marble. Holding it up, “um, tada? No one can open it but me so it’s fine”. Danny tosses the little ball into his bag as Valerie just gapes at him, “this is absurd Danny. But I’m not about to question you on that”, getting up and grabbing a movie, “I think I’m all convo’ed for now, so movie?”. 

Danny shrugs, “sure”, feeling pretty sure she forgot about actively getting his secret out of him. Maybe ClockWork interfered a little, was trying to tell him to sit and think on this; that maybe this wasn’t quite the right time or way to go about this.


	9. Haunted Home, Haunted Body, Haunted Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pointing out the ghost elephant in the room.

Nearing around midnight, Danny’s pretty sure he’s approaching over-thinking in regards to the reveal situation, but every thought and scenario makes him decide it’s probably best to do it entirely of his own accord, no pushing from Valerie. He _trusts her._ And this way he can control how it comes out, how he builds up to it. Where it won’t be a situation where he’s backed in a corner, injured, surprised, or has no choice. And the fact of the matter is, she’ll be more likely to accept his help, to ally with Phantom, if she knows. That could save lives. Sure that might be his Obsession talking but it’s a good reason. While the more human part of him likes the idea of her knowing him wholly, gets to love and experience the spooky Danny as much as the living one. And what benefit is he even getting from hiding it at this point? Outside of not having to deal with the paranoia telling her will cause. 

Plus, hiding part of yourself is exhausting, but do it long enough it becomes a nearly impossible routine to break; he knows this. Even worse for ghosts, or half ghosts, since ghosts weren’t things of change. That’s why he couldn’t just _move out_ with the Fenton’s, living with them was routine. He _had_ to be violently chased off. And he’s pretty sure if this secret gets violently chased out of him it’ll hurt Valerie. Not physically, but in the trust department. Especially with her hunting, she wasn’t an ‘average girl’. And like ClockWork would say: some words ripen with age, others only rot. Danny’s pretty sure if this goes on much longer, things will start tipping into the ‘rot’ category. 

And thinking on her hunting, that might be an okay place to start. They had been talking over what he had once wanted to do before ghosts got involved, so what about her? Now seems a good a time as any, neither of them are all that interested in the crappy horror movie playing on the tv, the cuddling is nice though. “You ever plan to do anything else with your life? Any other purposes or whatever?”. 

He’s not surprised her reply is a slightly tired, “hmmm?”, before she shakes her head, “no not really, I never really had any to begin with. My plan was to marry rich and that was it”, she pats his arm lightly, “this is much better”. He’ll admit, her being tired and thus having less energy to possibly freak out on him or attack him makes him feel slightly less paranoid about this. While Valerie gives him a slightly puzzled look, probably wondering what brought this on. 

Danny chuckles weakly, he’s a little surprised by her response; that’s not what he expected, “that is pretty lame and boring. I don’t think I could imagine you being someone's trophy wife”. Valerie gives him a little slap for that, “ass”. Danny just rubs his face against her cheek, “I didn’t say you weren’t pretty, Val”, putting his chin on her head, “I just couldn’t imagine you doing nothing with your life but being frivolous and actually be happy that way”. 

Valerie gives him a little pat, “I probably could have before...”, she trails off expecting him to understand. 

Smiling fondly Danny supplies, understanding better than she currently knows but it might be a good way to steer the conversation towards the reason _why_ he understands, “before knowing what it’s like to have a purpose? A drive? Power? ‘Cause don’t lie, there’s power with it”. Valerie chuckles, “true, but I never really even pay attention to that. ‘Drive’ makes more sense with me. I’ve got something that’s mine, that I worked for and excel at”. Danny nods curtly, “figured”, hoping she recognises he wasn’t going nowhere with his random question. 

Valerie turns to Danny and stares at his face, “okay what is it, Danny?”. Danny shrugs, “just remembered about the whole astronaut thing and wondered if you lost anything to newfound responsibilities”. Valerie sighs sadly, “if you asked my dad he’d say I lost everything”. Danny nods with a frown, and takes something of a plunge, “same”. Which makes Valerie furrow her brows, ‘newfound responsibilities’ makes her think he’s refereeing to the ghost royalty ‘job’, but that’s not what Danny lost his ‘parents’ over, “uh, I’m not sure if you’re talking about the future-ghost-king thing or the big secret”. 

Which Danny can’t help but smirk at, “technically both”, taking a breath, he can build up this way and maybe really show just how much being a halfa has affected everything, “I wouldn’t be made king if it wasn’t for the secret. Zone, everything weird that’s happened to me is ‘cause of the secret. If it wasn’t for it then the Fenton portal wouldn’t work, there wouldn’t be a ghost problem, you wouldn’t be the Red Huntress, Jazz wouldn’t be pioneering a brand new field of psychology, Tuck wouldn’t be on a watch list, and the Fenton’s wouldn’t be ghost hunters anymore. None of our lives would be even recognisably the same if my secret wasn’t around”. Valerie looks even more confused now, and that’s because she is, “I’m pretty sure I made my choice on my own, Danny”. Danny chuckles, “yes but ghosts are _why_ you made that choice and they wouldn't be here if not for my secret”. 

Valerie shakes her head, so Danny felt or actually _was_ responsible for the ghosts haunting Amity? “what did you even do?”. Danny rubs his neck and shifts a bit prompting Valerie to sit upright, he decides to give the rather lame response to ease any tension, “I tripped”. Valerie feels incredibly underwhelmed, “you... tripped”. Danny, chuckling, “yup. Accidentally tripped. Accidentally pushed a button”, which is probably the most understated way he’s ever explained how he died. 

Valerie puts a hand over her eyes and laughs at the absurdity of it, Danny chuckling a bit more too as she more or less points out the obvious, “well your accident spiralled wildly out of control”, sighing and looking at his face, “though I can tell this isn’t the secret, but rather what caused it?”. 

Danny nods, rubbing his hands together, “it’s why I would go after the ghosts and pretty much always do. It’s my fault they’re here so it’s my responsibility. That’s not the secret either though”, sure he also did it partly because he was able to; not realising back then that he actually had an Obsession in play too. Now he knew the ‘it’s my responsibility’ and ‘because I can’ were his human mind rationalising his ghost side screaming at him to ‘ **PROTECT** ’. Obsession or not though, the ghost problem was at least partly his fault. And he would never really feel otherwise, just like Sam and Tucker would always feel at least partly responsible for his death.

Valerie shakes her head in disbelief, of course Danny saw it that way, “self-sacrificing idiot. An accident isn’t your responsibility”. Danny just shrugs which prompts Valerie to continue, “it really isn’t, Danny. That’s like blaming someone because they didn’t see the news yet or were asleep”. Danny shrugs again, “I was doing shit I shouldn’t have been doing, that I knew I shouldn’t have been doing. And well, that’s not my only reasoning, I also like to hit stuff and mainly help people. Protect people. Before I may have had something I wanted to achieve, wanted to be able to do, but that’s it”. Valerie nods, that was better, “good, ‘cause you shouldn’t do stuff just ‘cause you feel responsible when you damn well are not. And yeah that’s not even really a drive or any kind of purpose. Just something you wanted, you’re better off in a role where you help people. I think you might actually hate not helping people”. 

Danny snorts, she doesn’t know how true that is, “regardless of anything else, it always comes down to protection. When I do it out of a feeling of responsibility, it’s because I feel I put people in danger and thus failed to protect. When it is out of feeling like I am able to do something so I should, it’s because if I have the ability to protect then I must. Even just on the grounds of it being the right thing to do, protecting is _always_ the right thing to do”. Valerie gives him a concerned look, which he thinks is fair; Sam and Tucker would give him the same look when they thought he was being obsessive, until they realised he was _actually_ ghostly obsessed. 

“I think you might have a problem with being over-protective”. 

Danny rubs his neck awkwardly and nods, a little embarrassed, “trust me, you don’t want to see what I’m like when I’m _actually_ being over-protective”, even he didn’t like that, his Obsession actively going a bit nuts and controlling him. 

Valerie gets up to grab a quick drink, untangling herself from Danny, “I’ll take your word on that. You want anything to fuel the apparently deep conversation?”. Danny gets up and stretches as he responds, trying to be nonchalant, “naw”, thinking for a second, “don’t grab anything breakable for your drink though”. Valerie puts back the teacup she was going to use and grabs a solo cup instead, very confused, “uh? Why?”. Danny smirks nervously to himself, “well, uh, people sometimes drop stuff in so-called heavy deep conversations”. 

Valerie turns around and leans on the kitchen entrance wall, “I’m not an utter klutz, you know. And what now, the meaning of life?”. Danny chuckles awkwardly making Valerie a bit nervous, not entirely sure what’s going on here. 

“Well, about that whole life and living thing...”, Danny shakes himself off a bit and goes for it, because if an accidental pun wasn’t a sign then what was, “death might be a little closer to home than you think”, clearing his throat, “see, um, well, somethings are considering pretty impossible right? Well uh, I kinda sit on the edge of one of those impossibilities. And I, uh, may have lost my chance at the stars, but now I have more”, Danny transforms right then and there -before he winds up just babbling awkwardly- leaving Danny Phantom standing in the middle of his and the Red Huntresses living room; his glow bouncing off the walls, though he tries to dim it as much as he can.

As Valerie numbly processes the black hazmat suit, clawed white gloves, pointy white boots, wild white hair, glowing green eyes, and flaming DP symbol. She also drops the cup. Danny speaks softly in a quiet gentle voice, “hey Val”. Valerie stutters out, “I, this, but, you, you’re... Phantom?”. Danny nods as he makes sure to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground, not moving much in case he startles her, “yeah, Val. Yeah, I am”, and waits to see what she’ll do.

Valerie slowly walks up still in shock and touches her right hand to his chest, right over his DP symbol. Whispering almost silently and staring at that symbol, “you’re, you aren’t blurry anymore”. Earning a confused look from Danny, “what do you mean blurry? I was blurry?”, no ones ever mentioned him being blurry before, outside of in photographs or videos; but that was the same for any ghosts.

Valerie’s only response is a nod as she moves her hand across his chest to where his heart is. Danny doesn’t notice for a bit, huffing out a laugh. If he looked blurry that would alter/soften his features, make him look different, “guess that explains why no one could tell, I just thought everyone was stupid or blind”, continuing after he does notice where her hand is, “it’s still there Val, I’m not _that_ dead. I still have a pulse. I still genuinely breathe. I still need to eat and drink. I still _have a beating heart._ It’s all just less or slower”.

Valerie puts her head to his chest still not speaking until she does indeed hear his always slow heartbeat, something that she had once passed of as being just a quirk, “but, how? You, you’re half ghost? Danny, how?”, she can hear the deep hum and even feel the pulsing of something else there, but she’s not really mentally there enough to think on that. Instead focusing on the slow beating located slightly to the left. Danny smiles softly before asking, “you okay with me touching you? You won’t freak out?”, better safe than sorry; he doesn’t want to screw this up by being too forward. Valerie looks up to Danny’s face then, only vaguely noting that his green eyes didn’t seem as vibrantly toxic as usual. Registering that as a kind gesture he was doing purely to freak her out less, “of course you can, I’m just. Just shocked”. 

Danny’s smile broadens, as he puts his hand around her, landing on her back and pulling her into him more. Feeling her against his jumpsuit was more than a little nice; he had his girl. His ghost side had her. Her snuggled up against his ecto-field and effectively absorbing a lot more of his shredded ecto-energy than she could while he’s human. Marking her as his much more effectively. Mentally shaking his head, that wasn’t the point right now. Patting the back of her head before wrapping a few of her curls around his claws; being careful not to cut them, “just had to be sure, didn’t want to scare you”. She nods against his chest, muttering, “understandable”. Before Danny actually answers the ‘how’ of this, “yeah. I’m called a halfa. The only true one actually, kind of a lonely thing”, shrugging, he didn't mind, “but you remember the accident we were just talking about? Well, when the Fenton’s first built the portal it didn’t work. That is until I walked inside and accidentally turned it on. With me inside”. 

He can both feel and hear her gasp, “God Danny, that must have, _hurt_. How- how did you not die?”, she can feel his chuckle deep in his chest. “I did, just not completely. Being a halfa means being half dead and half alive. _Half_ _a_ ghost, _half_ _a_ human. Hence the name”. Danny smiles over her huffing out a weak laugh, it was something, before continuing, “Jazz likes to make jokes that I’m Schrodinger's boy. Alive and dead at the same time. Sam and Tuck make living dead and zombie jokes”. She pats his chest, “figures they know”. Danny nods, “Sam and Tuck don’t like to think about it, but they saw me die. I’m glad they know, but I wish they hadn’t seen that; probably really traumatising”. 

“That’s awful”.

Danny just nods and changes the subject, “when it comes to terms, I go with undead sometimes. Ghosts have a lot of names for halfas, most aren’t very nice. Half-creature, half-thing, amalgamation, abomination, hybrid, glitch, error, halfling, changeling, two-soul, twice dying, reaper failure, half-formed; Spectra likes the ever-creative ‘freak’. Most ghosts aren’t assholes though. Some ghosts even regard us as deities”. Valerie shakes her head, that was ridiculous, “talk about mixed messages. But, um, screw anyone who uses the, er, mean ones”, shifting on her feet some, “and I guess I, um, need a word for you too”. Danny shrugs, “you don’t _have_ -”. Valerie cutting him off with, “whatever, halfie”. Making Danny snort, “of course it’s cutesy”, earning another smile out of her. 

After standing in silence for a bit, Danny shifts, he should probably _actually_ explain, “but as for how I’m even possible, well, when the portal turned on I was instantly electrocuted and engulfed by the Ghost Zone at the same time. Fussing ghost ectoplasm to all the genetic pieces that died but in the process that very same ectoplasm protected my living genetics, saving half my life”. Danny shuffles a little again, his body is not particularly keen on being grounded for so long when so full of energy, “my human bits keep my ghost bits more sturdy and let me maintain my ectoplasm levels outside of the Zone. My ghost bits make my human bits more manipulatable and harder to harm. My human half makes me a stronger ghost and my ghost half makes me a stronger human”. Valerie can’t help but smile a little, “so you’re over-powered. And, and what did you, um, mean by the only true halfa? Vlad? Also, you’re really cold and can we maybe lay down?”. Danny furrows his brows in worry, makes sense she’d feel kind of weakened, “yeah sure and my ice is more at the forefront when I’m all ghostly”.

Danny walks slowly over and lays down on the couch, making sure to stay in her line of sight. Valerie curls up on her side on top of the much larger halfa and he pulls the blankets over them, “I’m glad this couch is so big. And yeah, though I think me being freaking strong has been long established”. Leaning back Danny closes his eyes and toys absently with Valerie’s hair, “Vlad is called a halfa yes. Anyone who’s part ghost, part human is. We’re our own species in that sense, a species of three. But Vlad isn’t a true halfa, he’s only around a third ghost; a third-formed. I’m half and half, _exactly_ ”.

Valerie rubs her thumb back and forth over Danny’s hazmat as she talks, the texture was actually a bit nice. Had a smooth but soft, almost squishy, feel to it; she vaguely wonders why it doesn’t feel harsh and plasticky like other FentonWorks jumpsuits did. His glow being so close to her one eye is a little weird though, “why? And Dani?”. Danny smirks, “Vlad got blasted in the face by a small portion of the Ghost Zone via an improperly filtered prototype ghost portal. Only the genetics in his face were affected, and the effects were incomplete due to the impurities. It took years in the hospital for his ghost side and powers to manifest; and he suffered from ecto-acne, which is painful and severely debilitating. He used to get reoccurrences of it until I found a cure due to some less than friendly encouragement”, grumbling a bit, “I probably would have helped willingly if he had just asked _nicely_ ”. 

Valerie laughs a little, “you’re too nice, Danny”. Danny shrugs, “probably yeah”, smoothing out a knot he accidentally made in her hair, “as for me, I was hit head to toe by the entirety of the Zone in a stable full-sized portal after being electrocuted by a bit of bad wiring. That electrocution, by itself, would have killed me, so that made it even easier for the ectoplasm I was effectively bathed in to attach to me. My ghost form and powers manifested instantaneously, it just took a while for my body to learn how to access and use them”. Valerie cringes, “just _how bad_ was your... um, electrocution?”, biting her lip, “what... what would have happened if only one of those things happened to you?”. 

Danny tilts his head, “I’d be fully dead or just a weaker halfa. As for the electrocution itself, it was about four billion volts, four times a lightning bolt”. She whispers, “Jesus Christ”. 

Danny nods, “I only really felt the pain for half a second, that sort of pain is more than a person can really comprehend so our brains kinda just read a big error”, Valerie notices his left arm and fingers twitching a bit as he continues, “it was more like sitting in a super hot sauna but covered in sharp ice cubes. Then there was _so much_ energy that I could barely stand not moving, yet couldn’t move. When the portal opened then there was suddenly _so so much more_ energy but it was soothing. Soft and wet even. Like someone had splashed me into a vat of jello, and that jello got everywhere. Slipped over bones, in pores, filled my stomach, massaged out all the knots in my muscles. It was pure bliss for a second. Because then it felt like it was tearing off all of my skin and melting me from the inside out, but that felt cleansing as much as painful. As it ended everything felt cold, but like having a good lemonade on a really hot day. My chest felt incredibly full, like there was too much packed in there; the rest of me felt that way too but less. I was weak and tired, exhausted even, but energised too. No pain. I didn’t really come back to myself till I heard Sam and Tuck freaking out”. Closing his mouth to breathe and make a point to come out of his death-throes, now noticing how stiff Valerie feels. Breathing out and patting her head, “sorry if that was a bit much. A ghosts death is vital to us, so it can be kinda weird to actually talk about”. 

Danny’s content to let her just breathe and fiddle with his left hand a bit. Her shaking her head a bit like she’s wiping her face, “you- you didn’t have to, have to tell me that. If it bothered you, or you didn’t want to. It, it kind of seemed like you were, um, stuck in the memory. Or... or _reliving it_ ”. 

Danny lifts his one hand off her head to run through his hair before returning it, “I pretty much was, but not in any way a human can. It’s called death-regression but most prefer the slang death-throes. Don’t worry, it’s not painful or bad. Good actually. The how and why of a ghosts death is the how and why of them being a ghost. It’s kinda like remembering the most important reason to keep existing. Or learning how to move on. A ghost that genuinely forgets their death will destabilise into a pain-filled insane mess”. Valerie seems to relax almost entirely, “so I, I didn’t hurt you by making you talk about... that?”. 

Danny instantly shakes his head, “absolutely not. If anything that was therapeutic for me. Jazz actually has what I call ‘regression sessions’, because it rhymes, with me as part of my not-entirely-willing therapy program. I just talk about the whole dying thing until I don’t feel like it anymore”. 

Valerie sounds a little worried when she comments on that, “you’re in therapy?”. Danny snorts and rolls his eyes, “ _you_ should be too. Anyone who has the kind of jobs we do should be. As much as she annoys me and is way too pushy, she’s probably saved me a ton of mental problems. And Val, I basically have the thought patterns and behaviours of two species; that causes for some weird things to happen up there”, moving a hand to tap his fingers on his head before rewrapping it around Valerie, “physically too, that ‘too full’ feeling I mentioned took a while to go away. Because I actually physically _was_ too full. My ghost side had to get used to all these human things, these organs and blood and fleshy stuff, still being there. And my human side had to get used to all these ghost things, all this ectoplasm and a Core, that just got shoved in it. By the same notion, my brain had to come to terms and compromises between my sides”.

She nods against his chest, “I guess that makes sense. Must have been hard”. Danny shrugs, “surprisingly, no. It kinda all just happened behind the scenes usually. But to mention something with the whole death-throes thing, it’s one thing for the ghost to talk about it willingly on their own; maybe a little prompting. Like I did. Forcing it, out-right asking, or _demanding_. Isn’t just rude, it’s a serious crime. Going into death-throes naturally is healthy and many ghosts will actually cry or hug you for listening, but forcing it is horribly painful and a good way to make a ghost actively and aggressively want you dead”. Valerie nods readily and swallows, “I’m definitely not going to do that Danny. But um, what about accidents?”, there’s no way this never happens accidentally. 

Danny frowns, “accidents aren’t really possible. If you’re getting close to pushing a ghost into that they either willingly let it happen naturally, again what I did, or tell you to back the fuck off or else. If you don’t back off then you’re forcing it, meaning it’s not an accident. Sure you can cause minor throes, kind of like flashbacks, if you hurt a ghost in the exact or near-exact way they died; but that’s not the same. Pointing out or talking about a ghosts death mark can do that too but the ghost will tell you to fuck off if they don’t want to talk about their mark”.

“Uh”.

Danny chuckles, knowing she wants to ask about his, but doesn’t want to be rude or anything, “don’t worry about it. Some are touchy about it. Some, like me, don’t care. Some, like Ember and her flaming hair, even flaunt it”. 

“Oh. So uh, what’s yours then?”.

Danny chuckles, “my wail actually. It sounds like the entire Zone’s worth of ghosts moaning in agony for a reason”. She moves her hand up to pat his mouth, “useful though”. Danny nods and effectively kisses her fingers before she moves her hand away, “very. Sam and Tuck hate it though, ‘cause it sounds so much like when I was dying. Which I can understand”, she cringes a bit while he continues, “the only part of it that bothers me is how utterly exhausting and tiring it is. Feels just like when I stepped out of the portal, that’s part of it being a death mark though”, shrugging, “I’ve gotten used to that and can recover damn quick now”. 

Pushing himself up a bit to look directly at her face and waiting for her to look up at him, “but about all this death marks and dying thing, no talking to others about it. Whether they know or not. What I tell you about that is between you and me. Just like what I tell Jazz or Sam or Tuck about it is between me and each of them”. She nods immediately, “of course Danny. I... I don’t think I’d _want_ to or would even feel comfortable doing that”. 

Danny nods and lays back down. Then frowns, “I’m not making you uncomfortable now, am I?”. Valerie furrows her eyebrows, “I’m still a bit freaked about this”, patting his DP symbol, “but I’m okay. But, uh, moving on would probably be... appreciated”. Danny winces a little, “fair. Is there anything else you need or really want to know?”.

“Well, you forgot to explain Dani”. 

Danny blinks, “oh, smooth Phantom. Smooth”, making her laugh lightly. He just grins like an idiot for a bit, “hate to say it but Dani is... complicated. She’s more like forty percent ghost and forty percent human. Still half and half but not the same. She’s not complete if that makes sense. Faulty-formed, which yeah I know sounds insulting”. Valerie frowns and shakes her head, “so what? she’s only eighty percent existing? That makes no sense”. Danny chuckles, closing his eyes, “like I said complicated. Her very existence is another secret”. 

He can feel her frown deepen, “yeah, I think no more heavy stuff or big secrets. I definitely can’t handle any more for tonight. So think you could stick to more light things, Danny?”. Danny pats her head affectionately, “sure thing, I’ll warn you if it’s something heavier or big so you can decide if you want to hear it. But do you want me to change back now?”. 

Valerie gets why he’s asking, his body noticeably felt like it was made of energy (which it was, maybe, right now) and she could feel him contaminating her; but she knows that won’t hurt her, especially with her suit. She knows he simply doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but he’s not, not really anyways, and she wants him to feel comfortable with her. Regardless of form. If she says ‘yes’ here she’ll probably make him self-conscious and avoid his... ghost body? around her. So she shakes her head rapidly, “no, no I need to get used to this. This, this you. I want you to be able to be completely you. That means ghost stuff”. Danny can’t help but smile wide, glad things have gone so well, “that means a lot thanks, though I’ll try to keep it more lively than dead. Ease you in slowly, I tend to be pretty liberal alone or with people who are comfortable with it”. Valerie smirks at that, “yeah I noticed that with the ice”. His seemingly preferred method of pest control was shooting/spearing then with ice for peat’s sake. 

Danny pats her head some more, “yeah and that’s by far not the one I’m most liberal with”. Valerie looks up at his face, though she can only see his chin till he tilts his head down, her giving an inquisitive, “oh?”. Danny, smirking, “funny enough, you said you’d slap me for doing it. But alone, there’s about only a quarter of a chance of me actually walking. So much easier to just float”, Danny shrugs at that and tilts his head back again, white hair flopping on a pillow. Valerie snickers, “well I said I would so I guess I’ll have to, the first time anyways”. Danny smirks even more, “well then, I guess it'll have to be an occasion then”. Which tells Valerie Danny is going to be a little shit about his floating. 

They lay like that for a while till Valerie pipes up again when she realises something, “um Danny?”. 

“Yeah?”. 

“Normally when you’d explain something going on or a secret, then unless you were upset you would pause, be awkward, fumble over your words, be panicky, and all-around nervous. But this time you were calm, controlled, cautious rather than nervous. Like you were more confident. The only difference I see is that you are all ghost up or whatever”. Danny chuckles a bit, “well there’s a difference between the forms. Also, ghost form works better but my catchphrase is ‘going ghost!’, which I tend to shout. Loudly”.

Valerie laughs a bit, “you’re an idiot for doing that, how has no one caught that? And what’s the difference? ‘Cause it might be a bit much if your whole personality changes, and the Phantom I’ve met before acts really different. I know you already mentioned the ghost brain thing, so, like, just how severe is that?”.

Danny actually laughs loudly at this, “I have flat out transformed in the middle of crowds, while jumping off cars, directly behind the Fenton’s, while falling off buildings; and so on. Like I said, I kind of thought everyone was either stupid or blind. But I think that people who don’t know _literally_ can’t see it, since you said I was blurry before”. Danny can’t help but laugh again, “as for my behaviour, well when I’m human I don’t have as good of access to my ghost powers, simply put? I’m weaker. Being that I’m rather paranoid, as you’ve noticed, having better access to my abilities and being stronger makes me less paranoid, more confident, more assertive, and more aggressive. Plus I play up the whole, I’m a hero so here’s my hero voice. Not really a ghost brain versus human brain dominance thing. Just comes down to being stronger in ghost form. So yeah, I’m fond of my own power”.

Valerie sighs and rolls over, laying chest to chest on top of him, “I’m not sure if I like you being kind of... power focused. Especially since you’re so strong. But I do get it, I do feel more confident in suit then out of it”. Danny nods a few times, “yes and I imagine you’d rather be in suit then out of it in times of distress or attack. I’m protective of my secrets, and with good reason, so outing them is naturally distressing. Kind of like how it’s easier to say something to someone online than to their face”. Valerie smiles fondly, “there you go being deep again and yeah I guess you do have a point”. 

“Yes and it doesn’t help that there have been times where I couldn't use any of my ghost power or even feel it. Not fun. It’s like going from having a normally functioning body to having all your senses cut off and your limbs removed”, grumbling indignantly, “it reeks of helplessness and weakness, and I don’t like it”.

Valerie moves her head to stare at his chin judgingly, “uh sounds like you’re a bit attached there, Danny. Also seems a bit extreme”. Danny shakes his head vigorously, “all my senses are enhanced Val, so it really is like going from twenty/twenty to practically blind. In the dark, it is blind; I don’t need light to see. Plus it’s in ghosts nature to be a bit power-hungry, and I’m not going to lie and say I’m unaffected by ghost nature. That’s just part of my ghost brain. Though it is less for me than a full ghost”. 

Valerie’s a little frazzled by that, “not sure how to feel about that last bit. But can you actually see in the dark that well?”. Danny puffs his chest out a bit in pride, “in ghost form I see better in pitch black then broad daylight”, then sounding a bit sheepish, “though my hearing does make me feel like an eavesdropping creep sometimes”, rubbing his neck with the hand that isn’t over her back, “there’s literally nowhere to go in here were I won’t overhear entire phone conversations”. 

Valerie grabs his wrist and puts his hand back on her head, “don’t worry about it, if it’s not intentional then it’s fine”, Danny hums accepting as she continues, “and that makes more sense, you’ve been this way for what? Fourteen or so years? You would be so used to it, that it _would_ feel crippling to lose I guess”. 

Danny sighs, “yeah, me and being fully human again would not end well. I’d probably wind up a bit of a wreck”. Valerie feels more than slightly worried hearing that, “what about the reverse?”, sure she would probably have more than a few issues if she lost her suit, but she wasn’t going to even possibly stop being human and literally become the suit. Danny was going to be a full ghost one day, he said so. 

Danny mulls it over a bit before answering, “well I know for a fact I’ll be a full ghost one day so it’s kind of important I make sure I’ll be comfortable with it. Whereas me being full human again is basically impossible. Though I know not having a heartbeat is going to freak me out for a while. That and not being able to look human”, and looking _exactly_ like Dan, but he’s not letting himself mentally go there. Valerie smiles, feeling more reassured, “makes sense and good”, sighing tiredly, “though I’m kind of exhausted now, bedtime I’d say. You kinda put me through the wringer”. 

Danny pats her head, “yeah, yeah I did. Bed’s fine with me. I’m content to stay right here though, care to join me in that?”. Valerie slides up his chest and kisses him, nodding sleepily; before curling back up on her side still atop his chest. Danny smiles wide and pleased as Valerie drifts off; he eventually falls asleep himself too. 


	10. The Moon Still Lingers In His Weary Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after and then some.

When Valerie wakes up Danny’s nowhere to be seen, she’s a bit confused how he got up for a beat before remembering the asshole probably just _phased through her_. Though she figures out where he is when she smells Spaghetti (again? He must be on a kick of that) cooking, so she’s not worried he pulled another running off stunt. 

Tossing the blankets off she walks in to the sound of Danny muttering, “shit shit shit”. She sighs, “did you burn it?”. Danny grumbles as he fiddles with the pot, “I’m a prince not a chef! I’m way too dead for life to be doing me dirty like this!”. Valerie shakes her head a little, “I am now just realising your half-dead state is literally the butt of ninety percent of your jokes. You’re not very subtle about this”. Danny grins triumphantly as he gets all the noodles out of the pot, “no need to be subtle with jokes. People see it as humour and just think I’m dark or weird”. Rolling her eyes, “you’re clearly both and more”. 

As Danny serves out the soup Valerie notices something, “uh, Danny? I think you’ve got ectoplasm on your shirt”. Danny tilts his head but then inspects his shirt, “oh well, I guess I do”, shrugging and going back to filling up his own bowl, “not from an injury though, so don’t worry. Probably from the ecto-filtrator”. Valerie looks puzzled as she stirs her soup, “why would you have ectoplasm on you from an injury? And filtrator?”. 

Now it’s Danny's turn to look confused as he sits down, “because injuries usually bleed? And yeah I’m finishing up building one”. Danny rubs his neck and decides it’s probably better to not hide the nearly done portal, though he is impressed with himself at hiding it well enough that she hasn’t noticed. She furrows her eyebrows, “that still doesn’t make sense, last I checked you bleed red, normal human red. And why are you building a filtrator? I’m not surprised you know how, but it’s not like you use weapons that need it”.

Danny facepalms, “I didn’t explain that did I? Um, okay, see I only bleed blood in human form, in ghost form I bleed ectoplasm. Same as any ghost. As for-”. Valerie cuts him off, “how the heck? Your body’s that fundamentally different in these forms?”. Smirking Danny replies, “yup. All that is universal is my general build, general makeup, and my mind”. Valerie shakes her head, “that’s crazy. Obviously these forms feel different then. Well I already knew they did, just even more different”. 

Danny shrugs, “they feel pretty similar to me but that might just be because I’m used to it. Just kind of like how I can use my powers on accident and not even notice. I’ve been doing that since day one”, laughing, “I wouldn’t even realise I was phasing through the floor or a soda machine till Tuck or Sam pointed it out. Scared the crap out myself and them a lot in those days. Wicked learning curve”. 

Valerie shakes her head in amusement, Amity really was blind to miss that. Heck! How did she miss that even after becoming a hunter, “how did no one notice that? So what? you'd just walk straight through vending machines in the middle of school? I never even considered that you might do stuff like that on accident, honestly I thought you’d have to, like, focus. You know, actually try to use them?”. 

Danny chuckles as he goes to put away the dishes, “you’d think so but no, most are like breathing or blinking. They come very naturally, it’s more like I have to intentionally not use them. Like I would be eating cereal and my hand would turn intangible dropping the spoon. I wouldn’t notice till the spoon landed in the cereal. Or I’d be walking and suddenly fall through the ground. I’d get nervous and flicker invisible. Tuck would ask for a high-five and I’d wind up shooting him in the face with an ecto-beam. There was more than one incident where I turned my clothing intangible and they fell off. The first few months were _wild_ ”. Valerie’s flat out laughing now, head down, “that-that sounds both horrible and hilarious”, poor Danny. 

Danny smirks, “the most startling was honestly over-shadowing. I went to grab Dash’s back ‘cause he was being a dick and got full-on sucked inside his body. I did make him look like an idiot though, so there was a plus”. Valerie blinks a few times, “I forget about ghosts being able to do that sometimes, that ability definitely creeps me out. No offence, though that is still rather funny”. Danny rubs his neck, “yeah, I don’t use that power much, mostly just to get out of tough spots, protect my secrets, or bug Tuck”, looking around a bit awkwardly and knowing she’s not going to be pleased, “I, uh, have over-shadowed you before”. Valerie glares at him, “not cool Danny, why?”. 

“Well I did it that one time to get you out of the Ghost Zone. The only way out was through the Fenton portal and you’d wonder why Phantom was using a pair of hunters portal”. Valerie shakes her head, “I guess that’s fair, but still not cool”. 

Danny smirks, “well Paulina’s the one who got the worst of it. Both me and Tuck overshadowed her at once and then had a very public argument while flip-flopping control over her body”, by the time Danny’s done talking, he’s wheezing. Valerie’s confused but also finds it kind of funny, “okay what? How did Tucker overshadow someone? That is funny though”. 

Danny blinks but then chuckles, “he got turned into a halfa for almost a full twenty-four hours by Desiree. He used his ghost powers to steal popcorn, change his grades, tricked nerds into getting punched, and then tried to kill me. Then there was the time he became a Pharaoh and made the whole class become his servants and had me fight in a duel to the death. His sphinx also tried to kill me”. Valerie is bugged-eyed by the end of the story, “what?! Has everyone close to you tried to kill you at some point?!”, though Tucker does seem like the type to go power crazy. 

Danny shrugs and nods, “yup, though Tuck was under evil influence both times, and Sam was, I guess?, full-on evil with the whole taking over all of Amity Park and trying to turn everyone into fertiliser”. Putting a finger to his chin as Valerie stares, “however, I don’t think Jazz ever has, though there was that one time I got shrunk and nearly crushed by her sweat. Vlad did _try_ to force her to kill me once, didn’t really work out for him”. Valerie shakes her head, “what the fuck Danny? You have been through some seriously weird shit. Though it makes me feel better about hunting you”, not totally better though. 

Danny waves his hand at her dismissively, “don’t feel bad at all, I was more bothered by you not believing me when I said the dog thing was an accident. Which by the way it was. Cujo isn’t my dog, even if he does like me a lot. Plus I never would have let you do me serious damage, I’d out myself to you before that”, sighing, “that’s basically what happened with the Fenton’s”. Valerie raises an eyebrow at this, “I believe you now if it’s anything. Still going to feel bad about hunting you though. And what happened with them? They actually caught you?”, she had thought he/Phantom was flat out uncatchable.

Danny chuckles weakly, “I understand, and they’ve caught me multiple times. Sometimes it was intentional on my part. But yeah they did, and let’s put it this way, they would frequently talk during dinner or supper about wanting to dissect Phantom. That’s basically what they got”, cringing, “I was pretty fucked up when I came to”. Valerie gags, “DANNY WHAT THE FUCK? They DISSECTED you? And- and that’s ignoring the sheer _stupidity_ of you letting yourself get captured _on purpose_ ”. Danny shrugs a bit stiffly, “I kind of figured it would happen eventually”, it was probably sad that the dissection didn’t bother him that much, the other things _after_ finding out he was a halfa were much more bothering. “As for the capturing, I did that because Jack was feeling bad about not being able to catch any ghosts, so I figured catching ‘public enemy number one’ would cheer him up”. 

Valerie levels him with a seriously unimpressed glare, “Danny, you really are a _dumbass_ , a complete _moron_ ”.

* * *

Valerie’s out chasing after Ember, since she called dibs and Danny placated his Obsession via making her promise to call him for backup if she _ever_ needed it even slightly. So Danny is instead putting the final touches on the ecto-filtrator. After fiddling for a bit he holds it up in success, “HELL YEAH BABY! and this time there will _not_ be any new halfas or buttons where they really really shouldn’t be”. 

Valerie comes in through the door to the sight of Danny hunched over something green and glowing cradled in his hands, while smiling like a loon. “Uh, do I want to know?”. Danny snaps his head to her still grinning, “oh hey, it’s just the ecto-filtrator I mentioned earlier. It’s done now. Hooray for me! I can die happy now!”. Valerie grins, knowing how she could get when she finally finished a new weapon, “well good for you then. Still don’t know what you need it for though”. 

Danny snickers, which is not a good sign to Valerie, before speaking, “I’m honestly surprised you don’t already know. It’s kind of big and unique looking”. She rolls her eyes, “just tell me you devil”. Danny smirks almost meanly, “naw I’d rather you find it, it’s in the weapons room. Good luck, and I swear I have a good reason”. Valerie glares at him as she heads off to snoop. But before she walks off, “since you’re doing me dirty, you can clean and fix this damn thing”. She’s officially a bit curious if Danny’s occasionally tricky and vague malicious intent was simply his ghost side showing more. She’s never met a ghost that wasn’t a trickster, all three half ghosts included. 

Valerie flings some goo-ball thing at him and disappears, instantly after catching it he yelps and flings it out of his hand onto the floor. Muttering incredulously, “really? I would think it would be obvious to her that anti-ghost means painful for Phantom. Aka _me_ ”. Danny glares at it for a beat before slumping down and scrolling through his phone while watching the ectoplasm move in the filtrator as he tips it around in his fingers. 

It takes Valerie all of five minutes to find the six-foot-tall unactivated portal and books it back to Danny, “what? Why? Also how? Isn’t this shit what half-killed you? _Why would you want another?_ ”, looking at the device on the floor, “and why is that just sitting on the floor, no way it was _that_ easy to fix”. Danny smirks from the floor, “like I said, I have a good reason. Well two actually. You remember the anti-Danny shield around Fenton Works?”, Valerie growls showing she clearly does so Danny continues, “well due to that I can’t even sort of access their portal so I need one that I can access”. Valerie is slightly pacified but, “why though? Do you need to get into the Ghost Zone?”. Danny raises an eyebrow at her, like the answer should be obvious, “well yeah, if there’s an issue or, say, a _party invitation_ , I need a way to get there and back. Plus I also need a portal to empty all those thermoses”. 

Valerie is a bit shocked by that, “I thought you could just empty them on your own somehow, you were just tossing them inside a portal?”. Danny nods, “more or less yeah. Lately I’ve been throwing them at Boxy to empty for me. I wasn’t about to just leave them in there till I got a portal working. That would be stupid for so many reasons”. Valerie shrugs, “okay point, and I’m still nervous about that whole Christmas thing just so you know”. Danny smiles softly as he sits up, “yeah I figured, also I’d rather you not fling anti-ghost stuff at me that can actually still hurt ghosts”. 

Valerie looks puzzled, “um what? Why?”. Danny gives her a judging but amused look as he shows her his now burnt hand, “anti-ghost means anti-me, Val. All that stuff hurts me just the same as any full ghost. Just only half as much, duh?”. Valerie’s eyes snap wide as soon as she sees his hand, “oh shit, I guess that should have been obvious. I thought that was only when you were in ghost form, or whatever”, she feels more than a little stupid now.

Valerie runs off to get burn cream though Danny knows he doesn’t really need it. While he clears things up a little, “no, anti-ghost shields are pretty much all that loses its effect on me when I’m human. Well okay, all capture devices do too actually. So it’s just things that actually harm ghosts that still affect me. I also set off some ghost detection stuff, it’s pretty much a toss-up there”. 

Valerie shakes her head as she applies the cream, “I know you don’t really need this but you’re still getting it”, Danny rolls his eyes as she continues, “so if one of my weapons accidentally went off and hit you, it would hurt you regardless?”. Danny nods softly, “yeah, but I’m more than a little used to being somewhere filled with anti-ghost stuff. That, and your stuff actually has safety features”. 

Valerie stares at Danny, “that’s just plain irresponsible, wow. But I don’t want my stuff hurting you, so I’ll keep it more organised then”. 

Danny chuckles as he gets up, heading to the kitchen, “you don't really have to worry just make sure things can’t still hurt a ghost if you’re leaving it around or giving it to me. I’m very used to working on or buil-”, Danny stops as he looks at the calendar in mild horror, “oh shit”. 

Valerie jumps in looking around, “what?!”. Danny looks to her sheepishly, “Jazz is going to be back for Christmas break really soon”. Valerie glares at him and smacks him on the head, “you still haven’t told her? You moron. Well you might as well catch her on her way here then at this point”. 

Danny rubs his neck and nods in agreement as he walks over and picks up the filtrator. Then heading to the weapons room. Valerie yelling after him, “Danny I do not want any people in there when you turn that thing on and that includes you! And it better have a damn good lock!”. Shaking his head he responds to Valerie who’s peaking around the weapons room door eyeing the portal cautiously, “Val, I’m not in the business of making death or half death. Honestly, I don’t really even want you in the apartment at all when I turn it on”. 

Valerie’s stares the now uncovered portal, up and down; it looked finished to her, “I think I’m alright with that. Should I go out now?”.

Danny thinks for a second and starts moving about the portal. Eventually deciding it’s good to go, “yeah might as well. Sorry about the creep factor of having a portal in the apartment, not really anywhere else to stick it though”, and shrugs. Valerie nods understandingly to him as she leaves. 

Danny puts on the final touches, takes a deep breath, and flips the switch. He then phases invisibly out of the room because who knows. The portal comes to life with swirling greens and the soft ghostly hum of the Ghost Zone. He didn’t really know if normal humans could actually hear it. Phasing his head through the floor, he eyes it cautiously before phasing fully back in and inspects the portal carefully before sticking his head through. “Well I’ll be damned, this is a pretty nice location”, looking around, this portal is a lot closer to the Far Frozen and even Clockwork. Plus it’s the Hell away from Walker’s prison. With a nod Danny hops all the way in and turns around to inspect this side. 

Feeling quite pleased with himself, he laughs a little, “ha, the Fenton’s would have a cow. They’d want me dead with a side of dead and extra dead sauce”, and snickers some. 

“What? not getting along with your folks no more?”, comes Poindexter’s nasally voice. Danny turns to face him, “well I mean they did try to publicly murder me, knowing it was me. Amongst other things”, quirking an eyebrow, “I’m amazed you don’t already know this”. Poindexter looks deflated, “oh that’s not swell at all. Guessing that’s why the portals always closed now, some have even tried knocking”. 

Danny chuckles, figures, “well don’t bother. Consider this-”, pointing at the portal behind him, “-Phantom’s portal. That other one is the Fenton’s and they’re biased ghost despising pieces of shit”. Poindexter floats back a bit, “woah Buster, I don’t even want to know what they did to make you actually hate them even slightly”, mildly tactfully changing the subject, “you getting down at the party and dance though?”. Danny, smirking, “I’ll be there and-”, making his smirk look very smug, “-likely bringing the lady”. Poindexter claps him on the shoulder, “good for you buddy! Golly gee I’m looking forward to meeting whoever the lass is”, tilting his head, “human I’m assuming though”. Danny nods as Poindexter gives him an awkward thumbs up and floats off. 

Danny shakes his head and inspects his cape a little, been a while since he’s seen it; since it only appears in the Ghost Zone. Patting at the black satin with soft white plush lining, white gold stitching, and white flames around the collar. He rubs his finger over the lightly flaming green skull clasps, connecting the two sides with a thick black shadowy chain. It was nice and decidedly royal, though a little showy honestly. Sometimes it made him feel silly and overdressed, other times prideful and powerful. At least it wasn’t on him in Amity. With a nod he floats back through the portal. 

Once back in the human realm he gives the portal another once over before shutting it. Double-checking the locks, he then begins straight out assaulting the locks to try and break them. Not at his full strength of course. After a bit he stops, re-inspects, and gives the door a fond pat. Standing back he takes in the large black and white structure with neon green locking bolts, “Hell yeah, this is perfect. I love you already, and thank you for not half offing anyone”, with a smile Danny heads over to the window and sticks his head out. 

Valerie is looking up at him from the ground so he waves to her and gives a thumbs up. Just as Jesse is coming home. Jesse, spotting Valerie, waves excitedly, looking up like Valerie did, she waves at Danny too. Danny grabs his phone and texts Valerie if she wants him to come down and she does. So Danny steps out the window and -using a mixture of ledges, his freakishly lightweight, and his strength- he climbs the three stories down. Valerie smacks him as soon as he’s safely on the ground, “you couldn’t take the damn stairs?”.

Jesse is grinning open-mouthed, “wow Leather, I’d ask if you have a death wish but I know you’d make some joke. Also, what’s with all the lazy swimming aura, it’s like you had a bath in ghost energy or something? It is a cool effect though”. Danny smirks, “yeah I went _swimming in death_ , I’m positive I _drowned_ ”, as he sticks his tongue out. Jesse snickers while Valerie rolls her eyes. 

Jesse taps at his dry pants with her shoe, “well you’re pretty dry then, Leather. You’re also clearly enjoying the weather. It’s snowing everywhere and you have only pants and a pair of fingerless gloves. Now let’s go in before you realise the actual temperature”.

Walking in, the landlady nods to them awkwardly and shakes her head at the shirtless Danny. Walking up the steps, Jesse laughs, “I think you’re leaving one interesting impression on the landlady”. Danny finger guns at her before saying, “and it’s the prettiest _chalk outline_ she’s ever seen”. 

Eventually, they’re about to go their separate ways but Valerie stops in front of the door, hand on the knob, “hey Danny, quick question. Is it actually safe to go in? And also, why did you lock the deadbolt! You dumbass!”. Jesse snickers but is also super curious, “why wouldn’t it be safe? Leather up to sneaky things”. 

Danny just runs down one flight of stairs, looks around, and phases into their apartment. Opening the door with a goofy grin, just as Valerie was going to answer. Valerie just sighs while Jesse laughs and shakes her head at him, “wow Leather, you can really move. Again,-”, Jesse points a finger at Valerie, “-he’s a god”. 

Danny coughs a bit, “it’s totally fine Val”. Valerie frowns but trusts him while Jesse butts in, “oh no I want to see whatever is going!”. She practically knocks Valerie over in her rush to get in. Valerie mouths “sorry” at Danny, who predictably waves her off. Then explains why he doesn’t care, “she can literally see ghost stuff, kind of no point in hiding shit”. Jesse laughs at this as she waits for them in their kitchen, “that’s auras, Leather. But you two are too interesting and fun to not butt in. So...”, Jesse leans over eagerly. 

Danny shrugs at Valerie, while she grumbles, “yeah well, I’m keeping my distance. I don’t care who built it, I don’t trust it”. Danny makes a sad puppy dog face, “you’ll hurt its feelings”, then giving a truly petulant, “maybe I’ll cuddle with Phantom’s Phate tonight”. Valerie stares at him incredulously, “really? Really? Of course you did”, figures he’d name it something referencing his own freaking death. Valerie sighs as Danny grins like an idiot. 

Jesse giggles, “naming stuff after the town hero or something? Hope you ain’t planning on hunting him. No offence or anything but he don’t deserve that”. Danny smirks, “that would be kind of hard to do and I think even I would question my sanity if I did that”. Valerie can’t help but choke a bit, for once getting the reference. To anyone else that sounds like an acknowledgement of Phantom’s power and importance rather than it being about the idea of him literally attacking himself.

Jesse is swinging her hips back a forth now, clearly impatient, so Danny heads to the weapons room and opens it up. Jesse sticking her head in and looking around, “wow I knew y’all would have weapons galore, but this seems excessive and what does that door even lead to? No way landlady gave permission for that”. Danny shrugs, “I never asked but it’s not like the wall’s damaged, this is a flat disk, not a deep disk GZ port”. 

Valerie eyes him from the doorway, “there’s actually an official name for them?”. Danny looks back at her and nods, “indeed and now this is the fourth ever working one. Because I am not a moron in some ways”. Valerie rolls her eyes, “yeah, you’re only an idiot about self-preservation and not freaking people out apparently”, even if he was ridiculously inhumanly durable and him freaking people out was probably partly because of being ghostly.

Jesse goes up and pokes it, while Valerie stiffens. Danny waves her off, “it ain’t gonna hurt her, I kicked and punched it a bunch to make sure the locks worked”. Both Jesse and Valerie look at him in mild shock and horror. Valerie has a feeling he doesn’t even realise that’s stupidly dangerous and that _hitting your inventions_ wasn’t normal. Danny shrugs nonchalantly, “besides, once activated there isn’t any danger, you could literally go fishing through it”. Jesse is even more confused, “what exactly is it? And fishing? This is what I mean by you guys are interesting”. 

Valerie rolls her eyes but answers for Danny, because at this point there’s no point in not, “it’s a portal into the Ghost Zone. Danny can’t access the one at Fenton Works anymore so he built his own”, then glaring at Danny, “and apparently jumped inside it for a swim”. Jesse starts laughing, “well that’s one mystery solved! That’s pretty crazy though, why would you even want something like this? Exploring or something?”. 

Danny shrugs, “who knows, even if I had zero use for it now it’s nice to have”, grinning wide at the portal, “don’t really need to explore though, I mapped out nearly the whole Ghost Zone by sixteen”, and nods to himself. Valerie starts coughing, “is there no end? To the sudden surprising facts you spring?”. Danny laughs arms crossed, “I have enough to fill a hundred afterlives”. 

Jesse shakes her head, “well I’m probably going to know whenever you open this thing up”. Danny raises an eyebrow in question at Valerie who sighs, “if you’re sure it’s safe, Danny”, looking to Jesse, “though I’m surprised at how chill you are with ghost stuff, Jesse. Though maybe I shouldn’t be”. Jesse smirks, “naw, we’re all weird here and you get used to ghost when you live in a city coated in ghost”, shrugging, “when you can see it and feel it anyway”. 

Danny smirks and opens the locks, then the door itself. Valerie does chuckle a bit at his colour choices. And then, almost too soon for Valerie’s liking, there’s a swirling green mass in front of Jesse and Danny. Valerie is a little startled with how the light and glow from it bounces off Danny’s eyes, making them almost seem Phantom green. Which just reminds her again that this is the thing that killed him.

Jesse blinks at it a bunch, there was no way around this being an access to an endless expanse of pure ghostly aura; like staring into space except it was touchable and clung to the walls and everything else, “wow that’s a lot damn, I’m going to say the Fenton’s don’t keep their portal closed often?”, would explain that house having its own aura. Danny frowns, “they do now”. Jesse sighs, “well I bet yours looks better even if it’s weird and a little creepy. Suits you through. Creepy Leather god”, with that Jesse sees herself out. 

After hearing the door click shut Danny looks to the portal and back at Valerie, “I swear it’s fine, you could run, jump in, and be perfectly fine”. Frowning, Valerie walks up and tentatively pokes at the ectoplasmic surface, feeling the raw ecto-energy and slightly gooey texture like thick wet mist, “God that’s weird...”. Danny shrugs, “I wouldn’t know anymore”. 

Valerie shuffles on her feet, “I’m guessing this is how we’ll get to the party, so I think that should not be the first time I use this thing. I’ll be nervous enough as it is”, the fucking Red Huntress isn’t fearful of a freaking portal. Danny nods, “you going Red or am I carrying you?”. 

Crossing her arms she activates her suit and says, “what do you think? But you’re going in first”. Danny smirks as his white rings come out, transforming himself. Valerie shakes her head as Phantom’s/Danny’s glow reflects off the metal around, “that’s still weird to see”. Danny chuckles, “well it was far weirder to feel back in the beginning”. Valerie shivers as Danny hops backwards in, disappearing inside the swirling green; with a sigh she flies in slowly. 

She’s shocked to not only see Danny sporting a ghostly tail but also a freaking _cape_ , “what’s with the cape?”. 

“Prince thing, so long as I’m in the Ghost Zone it’s on me”, Danny brushes a hand over the collar flames a little, “so... did you just want to look or?”, he starts lazily flying around her, cape billowing. Seeing his lax contentment makes Valerie ease up a bit, so she smirks, “well first...”, then she promptly slugs him in the shoulder, “floating bastard”, making both of them laugh; Danny makes a point to rub his arm like that actually hurt. 

Valerie looks around and sighs, “on a serious note, maybe fly a little? My one and only time really here was not well enjoyed. And what did you mean back there? by the portal is just nice to have? I find it kind of the opposite?”, and not just because it was sorta dangerous and creepy on principle; it just felt unnerving. 

Danny rolls onto his back next to her, “you hit me for flying and then ask to fly”, laughing and shaking his head, “the soft hum of the Zone is comforting and cozy. And the green swirl is pretty, reminds me of space with all its swirling and little bursts of ectoplasm like stars”, smiling wide, “it’s like knowing the doorway to an oasis is right within reach and that I have a level of control over the border between worlds”. 

Valerie raises her eyebrows, as she swerves to avoid some floating green blob and watches Danny’s green eyes seemingly twinkle a little, “well I don’t hear anything, so not sure if that just ‘cause you have good hearing or because only ghosts or part ghosts can hear it. Sounds kind of like the Ghost Zone is naturally comfortable to your ghost side though”. Danny nods, “oh I know it is. That was pretty easy to figure out right from the get-go and it makes sense. This is where ghosts are supposed to be”, gesturing around, “and the Ghost Prince thing seemed to increase that comfort”. 

Valerie nods but pauses in the air, causing Danny to look back at her and head back to her, “what’s up?”. She stares at him for a bit, “is it just me, or are you suddenly more muscular and a bit bigger, which I didn’t even think you could get”, he flat out qualified as a giant of a man right now; which absolutely made her feel rather small, even though she was pretty tall for a girl. 

Danny blinks but then nods, “yeah that happens. See here there’s tons of ectoplasm everywhere and all ghosts, halfa or not, naturally absorb ectoplasm pretty much constantly. For regular ghosts it makes them stable and keeps their ectoplasm levels at their normal levels. But for halfas, it just makes us stronger and a bit more ghostly”, rubbing his neck, “all that ecto-energy build-up makes me grow a bit”, and chuckles.

Valerie thinks for a second and snickers, “you don’t just keep getting bigger do you, because that would look absurd. You’re already a huge wall of muscle. You’re, like, nearly a solid nine-foot now instead of around seven”. Danny chuckles as he does a little loop, “Ancients no, that would be horrible. I won’t get any bigger than this”. Valerie flies up and pats him though it’s obvious she’s still not fond of this place like he seems to be. 

As they float around Danny points out random flora formations, a little black rock hot springs that he took a short dip in with Valerie only poking her boots in, got her to actually pet a little blob ghost he started twirling around his fingers; Valerie was honestly just glad to not run into any serious/strong ghosts.

Eventually, they head back, Valerie even more glad to be back on solid earth ground. Danny flies out and pats the portal a few times before closing it. Valerie shakes her head at that, “okay yeah, you’re weirdly fond of it”. Danny just shrugs and changes back human; though he remains floating. 


	11. Familial Death Row And The Ones Who Save Him From It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And everyone gets together.

A few days later Danny is running around eating and getting dressed in his most presentable clothing. Leather jacket included, as he goes to meet Jazz at the airport. Knowing full well that she’ll be here at least a day earlier than she told the Fenton’s, as always. Just to catch up with him, so they could talk Phantom without them around. 

Valerie rolls her eyes at his antics, “your fault you’re freaking and trying to make yourself look as well off as possible. Should have told her sooner, dumbass”. Danny rolls his eyes with a bagel in his mouth as he phases out the door. She scrunches up her face at that, grumbling to herself, “you could have just used the handle”. She plans to spend her day tinkering with weapons, though she’s still uneasy about the portal next to her.

* * *

At the airport, Danny waves with one hand in his pants pocket as Jazz comes rushing forwards. She has to jump up a fair bit to hug him properly around the neck. Shaking her head at him as she gets her feet back on the ground, “damn you and your height, little brother who isn’t so little”. Danny smirks, “well hello to you too, I was about to _die_ of loneliness”. 

She pats Danny on the shoulder as she gives him her things to carry, “so you gotten any kind of normal job?”. Danny shakes his head as they start walking, “I think you may just have to accept that I never will. But who knows maybe I could sell DP stuff or sell ghost hunting gear. Turns out I’m pretty decent at that”, not that breaking into the market would be easy though. 

Jazz smiles softly but sadly, “I know but I’m still going to nag you about it, and spill it?”. Danny smirks gladly, “corpse coming your way! Well let’s say there are now four functioning portals that have ever been built”, he deserves to feel proud in his opinion. Jazz’s mouth drops and she excitedly claps her hands, “wow Danny, that’s like mom and dad's biggest achievement and you pulled it off on your own?”, squinting at him a bit suspiciously, “why though?”. Danny frowns and rubs his neck a bit, “indeed I did and I pretty much had to, since I don’t have access to theirs anymore”. 

Jazz instantly stops walking, “what do you mean Danny? Did they somehow make it so that even halfas can’t open it? That could be a problem with keeping your secret”. Danny rubs his neck some more, “ah well, actually no. They, uh, already know”. Jazz’s eyes go wide, “since when?! How?! How did they react?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”. Danny shrugs, arms behind his head looking away from her, “I didn’t want to worry you and have you come rushing back from uni. But let’s just say I’m not having Christmas, or anything ever, at Fenton Works again”. Jazz steps in front of where Danny’s looking to make him meet her eyes, “Danny, no. They didn’t”, sounding a little pleading but also a bit heartbroken. 

Danny sighs, dropping his arms, “they did, and now they both have assault and disorderly conduct charges on them”. Jazz walks over to a bench and sits down, looking to her brother sadly, “I never thought they really would reject you, you know”, she lets herself feel bad and a little miffed at being wrong for a second before getting back to business. She has to figure out how he’s doing, how he’s been doing, “that must have messed you up a bit, you doing okay? Where are you living?”. 

Danny sits down and fiddles with his hands a bit, “I moved in with Val basically half a year ago. We’re dating again too, so that’s new as well”, giving a small smile, “good kind of new though”. Jazz sends him a smile right back but shakes her head sadly, “just how long has it been, Danny? And I’m glad you’ve found someone, again. But what about DP? How are you keeping a wrap on that or does she know now too? And again Danny, how are you doing”, glaring kindly, “you know I’m going to keep pestering”. 

Danny runs his fingers through his hair as he responds, “yeah I know. It’s been almost close to a year. And yeah fine, I wasn’t doing great, but I’m good now. Val knows, only pretty recently though. And I’m also positive the neighbour is going to know, she can literally she ghost auras. Her very first comment when meeting me was about mine”. 

Jazz nods, glad that he at least admitted to having some difficulties, “that’s a long time Danny, but you’re right, if you had told me you were basically homeless and they treated you poorly, I would have rushed home to scold them”, glaring at his smirk but ignoring it, “I’m glad about Valerie, it’s for the best. Though the neighbour is worrying, you sure she isn’t with the G.I.W. or something? And how many break downs did you have? There’s no way you didn’t, _especially_ if you’re admitting to having been in poor shape”. 

Danny grimaces a bit, Jazz was nosy as ever, “Val already got the screaming at them part covered, I’m afraid. She also covered the grounds of assault, breaking and entering, and theft. And yeah, Val has been great. We’re a good, though odd, match. And the neighbour, Jesse, isn’t new to town, eccentric yes but nothing suspicious. She calls me Leather and she’s convinced I’m some kind of god”, chuckling a little before sighing defeatedly, “probably somewhere around ten, Val’s been there for most of it”. Danny finishes with another sigh. As Jazz pats him on the leg, “well I’m glad you weren’t alone. Even if I’m not sure yet if I approve of her actions towards our parents. And the ‘god’ thing means you are definitely not keeping your secret from the neighbour”.

Danny nods, “yeah I assumed as much. I’m glad for what Val did, she basically blew up at them and if she hadn’t I would have. We _both_ know that wouldn’t be good. I broke a chair as it was”. Jazz nods sympathetically, an angry Danny was a truly scary sight, “yeah I know it can be bad when you lose your cool, that would have made the situation worse”, pointing at him and speaking sternly, “now you _know_ I’m going to talk with them about this, so I want your side of the story first. I’d prefer to have you there after I’ve talked to them, have a family discussion. See if they just need the right words said. And with the break downs are we talking crying, anger, violence, or any other extreme emotion?”. 

Danny shakes his head, grumbling, “can’t, I can’t go to Fenton Works not because I don’t want to but because I _physically_ can’t. They have an anti-Danny shield over the whole place, Jazz. I can’t get close”, Jazz’s eyes go wide but she doesn’t interrupt him, “also, they’ll assume I’m controlling you if they think you‘ve talked to me already. They did that to Val. I’ve already had the whole sit down and just talk with them. Ended in a mutual agreement to leave each other alone”, shrugging, “so I guess don’t waste your breath on them, it’s way too late. And all of the above, mostly angry though”. 

Jazz’s clenches her fists around her pants, barely able to believe everything she’s heard and she _knows_ Danny would hide anything that’s more serious, “I’ll believe that when I hear it, Danny. But that shield is already going way too far. If they really have been so bad I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep a relationship with them”, giving a disappointed head shake towards the ground before looking back to him, “for you angry break downs are better than sad ones, sad tends to mean it was traumatising for you. But angry is just that, anger over the situation. So long as you’re not _still_ having them”. 

Jazz watches him carefully as he smiles sadly a little, “like I said, I’m good now. I seldom think about them, I can bring them up without melting down or anything. It’s more that there’s just a feeling of loss and disappointment. In a way they let me down, but I knew repairing things was likely a lost cause when they disowned me. Things didn’t really shink in till that”. 

Jazz puts her hand to her mouth in shock, eyes watering a bit, “no, how could they? That is every kind of not okay, Danny”, grabbing his hand and giving it a small squeeze, “however, I am glad that you seem better than what you likely were. That feeling of loss will never truly leave though. For that I am sorry little brother. How did you wind up with Valerie?”. 

Danny can tell she’s intentionally trying to lighten the mood, “she noticed me being at the Nasty Burger constantly, and the emergency bags. So she sat down, ordered me some food, and invited me over for movies. She kept doing that till I just stopped leaving. I am on the lease now though, the landlady noticed my lack of leaving”, Danny chuckles hollowly but Jazz can tell he's not done, “her dad kicked her out too, over the Red stuff. I think that’s a lot of what made me comfortable, brothers in arms you know? And things just sort of went from there. It’s not like we had ever actually stopped liking each other. It just got put on hold. Vlad’s already bugged the place once”, Danny’s smirk is a bit more heartfelt. 

Jazz leans against her brother, “that makes sense and I know neither of you really _wanted_ to break up. Glad things got back to the way they should be, even if the catalyst is negative. Do Sam and Tucker know all this?”. Danny nods, “Sam called Val after Jack redirected her to our place. So I pretty much had to spill. She then told Tuck, who also called. It went better than I though it would. They’ll be back soon too, Christmas and all. I’m guessing you’ll want to see the place? I know they will”. 

Jazz smiles at that, it’s clear to her he’s comfortable, and thus safe, there, “first names huh? Well that says it all. And of course, the day hasn’t come to a close just yet. So lead the way, little brother”. With that Danny picks her up and flies her, invisibly, to his and Valerie’s place. Jazz is glad to see a bit of a soft smile on Danny, it tells her that he will be alright; which means she will be too.

When the siblings walk in the door, Valerie is glaring at an ecto-gun that just does not want to work. “Troubles in Huntersville?”, Valerie snaps her head up at Danny’s voice and quickly sees Jazz waving behind him. Valerie jab’s the ecto-gun meanly, “it’s refusing to work like it should. I swear it’s trying to spite me. And hey Jazz, I’m guessing you know? Also, welcome to our cozy little space”. Danny smiles fondly at her as he puts Jazz’s suitcases in the living room and then goes to lift up the offending weapon. 

Jazz sits down next to Valerie while nodding sadly, “I’d always hoped Danny would be wrong about them but that’s the past now. I’m still going over there tomorrow to talk though. But I’m glad you two found each other again. You’ve always bounced off each other well and your lifestyles mesh. Very healthy”. Danny rolls his eyes as he fiddles with a few bits of the gun. Valerie blushes a bit, “yeah I was a fool for ending things in high-school, I’ve told him as much. Neither me nor Danny are joining you with the Fenton’s though. They can keel over and die for all I care. At least my dad is civil and can play nice”. 

Jazz sighs as Valerie holds up some tea while looking to Jazz; who nods as she speaks, “yeah I figured as much. I’m certainly not impressed, but I want to gauge their behaviour myself. I’m particularly interested in regret but I also think I’m going to have to see if there is anythings there that might be used against Danny. More specifically, ones meant to hurt him specifically”. Danny nods with a bit of a frown, “as always if you see blood blossoms, destroy them or snatch them. You might have to visited again once Tuck gets here, he might have a job for you”. 

Valerie raises her eyebrows but Jazz smirks knowingly at Danny, “let me guess, he intends to remotely hack some things and might need me to plug something in?”. Danny smirks himself, “but of course, don’t know for sure though”, then lifting his head up to look at Valerie, “this is almost routine for them, even she’s known since high-school”. Jazz nods elbows up on the table with fingers crossed in front of her mouth, “you get used to the walk through walls, disappear and fly; after a bit. Still startles me sometimes though, especially with being away from it for a while”. 

Earning a snicker from Danny as Jazz tries to pick up her tea from the table but just goes through it. “Oh cut that out you little shit. If you chill it, I’ll smack you. I do want it drinkable”. Even Valerie can’t help but chuckle, even if it’s a bit weird to her still. Danny grins wide as he lets the cup return to normal, quite pleased with himself. 

“So where’s this portal? And is it safe?”, Jazz glares at Danny for emphasis. Danny puts down the gun and leads the way, Valerie sticking her head through the door. Danny waves off Jazz’s possible worries, “perfectly safe, lock’s coded for me and I’m not going to sit here opening and closing it for shits and giggles”, sharing a knowing look that’s a little pained with Jazz.

With that Danny unlocks and opens up the portal. Jazz pats the framing and nods, rather impressed, “can’t say I’m surprised by the colours and you could have definitely been an engineer”. Danny rubs his neck bashfully. Closing up the portal they head back in as Valerie states, “like I said before, Danny, you’d be happier helping people than anything else”. Jazz raises an eyebrow but says nothing, clearly the two have talked in depth about hopes, dreams, and responsibilities. Possibly touched on Danny’s Obsession. She feels just a little proud of her brother over that. 

Jazz sits back down and turns to Valerie, while Danny gets back to work on the gun, “so did he _actually_ tell you? or did you just accidentally find out? I caught him transforming in an alley, Sam and Tuck caught me catching him. They played it off pretty good though”. Valerie’s smile is playful, “he transformed in the living room directly in front of me and said hi. Though I already knew about a few of his abilities, just didn’t know the real reason he had them. I found out about the healing when he showed up with a shredded back and no medical supplies of his own”. Valerie glares at Danny as he rubs his neck sheepishly, still working on the gun. 

Jazz rolls her eyes, “you really do get hurt too much, Danny. I would like to think with the _thing_ , ghosts would be less likely to attack you”. 

Danny lifts his head up raising one eyebrow but then understanding, “Val knows about the prince thing too. No need to pussyfoot around it. And they _do_ leave me alone more just not entirely”. Valerie chuckles, “I actually knew about that _before_ the Phantom thing. And Danny, I think you’d be mad if they actually left you alone. Heck, _I’d_ be mad. Can’t hunt if there’s nothing to chase”. Jazz shakes her head, “really Danny? How’d that happen”. 

Valerie answers for Danny, “an eyeball guy showed up and he had to stop me from attacking them. The two had what was, at the time, a confusing conversation. He didn’t really have a choice about explaining. Basically just told me he’d be king once he fully died, I just thought he was making a bit of a joke by the ‘fully’ part”. 

Jazz stares at Danny, “Danny... _why_ were one of _them_ here? Aren’t they the ghost court? What did you do?”. 

Danny rubs his neck, “it’s not what I did but what the Fenton’s did. They broke a Falling Kings Decree, A Seal, and almost broken two Cardinal Law Of Ages; and I got the job of punishing them”. Jazz puts down her tea, eyes wide, “that is really bad, even I know most of those are supposed to be hard to break. What did they do?”. Danny sighs, “well they knew about the prince thing and then they tried to kill me. Big no-no”. Jazz closes her eyes, “I can’t believe them. I’m going to guess you probably freaked them out pretty bad with the Thorn Prince thing. Not that they didn’t deserve it”. 

Danny blushes a bit while Valerie just looks confused. “Heh, oh yeah. Jack actually followed orders and was shaking a fair bit. I haven’t seen anything problematic from them since”. Valerie puts her hands on that table, “okay I’m lost now, ‘Thorn Prince thing’? Aren’t you just the Ghost Prince? And weren’t you just giving them those crystals?”. 

Jazz gives Danny a judging look as Danny shrugs sheepishly before explaining himself, “there’s a whole ceremony and speech with it. When punishing someone or doing really anything under the legal ghost court -especially High ghost court- Thorn Prince is my proper title and name. It’s more complicated than I know but there’s speech and behavioural changes along with the name”, rubbing his neck, “technically anyone with claim to the High throne is called prince but the one that’s officially ‘chosen’, I guess, is the Thorn Prince”. 

Jazz nods as Valerie looks a bit taken aback, “yeah and it is definitely intimidating. You actually act as powerful as you are”, Danny just shrugs and rubs his neck some more. Valerie shakes her head, “I don’t even know how that would even look. And so what? Did the Zone just _choose you?_ Don’t think you ever explained how exactly you got the throne”, tilting her head, “beyond beating Pariah, I guess”. Danny nods and chuckles, “yeah pretty much”, just as there’s a knock at the door.

They hear Jesse’s voice yell through the door, “hey! You guys want cookies?”. Valerie raises an eyebrow as she opens the door. Jesse immediately gestures to the very large Rubbermaid tub, “I took Leather up on his idea. Turns out marshmallow, kiwi, frosted flake cookies are damn good but I may have gone overboard. I kind of used the whole box”. She hears Danny start laughing so she takes that as her queue to waltz in, dragging in the Rubbermaid tub behind her. Valerie starts snickering as she shakes her head. 

Jazz watches the newcomer cautiously, protective of her brother. Jesse pays her no mind at first, instead talking to the guy toying with a gun that happens to be pointed in her general direction, “hey Leather! Don’t shoot, I come with unintentional offerings of free food”, turning to Jazz as Danny laughs harder, “hello new person! Man you have red hair, like a little fire. You’re a very smart protective person aren’t you? It’s a soft protective though. That’s cool, these two are reckless. I think a third reckless would be rather crazy. You from out of town? Nothing but Phantom, which would be weird if you lived here. But no one can come to Amity without getting some Phantom”. Danny is wheezing into his arms at this point while Jazz blinks, taken aback a bit. 

Danny mutters, “phrasing dear Phantom, _phrasing_ ”, as Valerie hits him. 

Jazz shakes her head, “wow, Danny wasn’t kidding about the aura thing, but I’m actually his sister. Just back from uni for a bit”. Jesse’s mouth drops, “you’re related!?”, turning to Danny while sticking her arms out towards Jazz disbelievingly, “this is your sibling?! You look nothing alike?! And she doesn’t reek of power?”. 

Danny laughs even harder before answering, “we looked pretty alike when I was younger”, and not influenced by ghostly power and constant ghost fighting being left unsaid. Jazz smiles at him, “we probably still would if you weren’t entirely muscle”, turning to Jesse, “yeah, I’m Jasmine but no one calls me that, so it’s Jazz”. Jesse shakes her head, “both of you use kiddy names, figures. I don’t know how I feel about you yet, but who knows, maybe you’ll scare the landlady too”.

Jesse looks quickly to her watch while Jazz glares at Danny. “Wow, late. Feel free to stuff you face with wonderful cookies!”. Jesse zips back out the door as Danny shouts after her, “check the morning news! I’ll be the first case of death by cookie overdose!”. 

Danny smirks to himself as he shoots a little ecto-beam out of his finger into the gun, soldering some pieces. Valerie watching the stunt with an incredulous expression and sounding a bit monotone, “are you shooting my gun? How is that supposed to help?”. Jazz smiles, “he's basically just being a mini blowtorch”. Danny grins as he hands it back to Valerie, “should work now, just don’t pick me as the target”, Valerie bops him on the head with the base of the handle. 

The three chuckle, enjoy cookies and drinks till Jazz is rather exhausted. Danny, noticing, “feel free to sleep on the couch, it’s more than big enough”. Valerie smiles lightly, “yeah, all the furniture is thanks to _someone_ ”. Danny shrugs as Valerie snickers at his expense. 

Jazz yawns and nods, “I don’t doubt it, I never though I’d know someone taller than dad. Though he’s got you width-wise. And I’ll take you up on that”. 

Jazz watches to see how Danny reacts, his smile wavering a bit but still there all the same. Valerie looks more displeased than he does actually. Jazz waves night to the pair, “alright, night then, and I’ll see how I feel about them after I talk to them myself”. The couple decide bed is a good idea too, though Valerie doubts Danny’s staying in the whole night. She still doesn’t like not knowing just how much he runs off but she knows she has to just roll with it. That’s the life of a hunter after all.

As if her uneasy feeling was a warning she gets softly awoken around one a.m. to the sight of a glowing Phantom sitting on the bed with an arm coming out of his left shoulder blade holding his left arm up to where it was _supposed_ to be attached to his shoulder. Him looking to be stitching it back together with glowing green stitching using his right hand; holding one end of the thread taught with his teeth. She groans, “Danny... the fuck? Yer arm and green thread? Three arms”. 

Danny pauses and looks to her, then shrugs and just magically sprouts another arm off his back to pat her head, “don’t worry about it. Just go back to sleep. Body manipulation. And Technus cut my arm off accidentally, I’m just getting it back where it belongs. Faster than growing a new one”. Valerie eyeballs the hand patting her head tiredly, “ya sure ‘bout that?”, making him laugh. 

Danny ties off and cuts the last stitch, sending away the extra arms, and leans over to kiss her forehead, “I’m sure”. 

He flexes his left fingers near her face so she can see that the arm is indeed fine, letting her pull her arm out from under the covers to trace over his stitch work, she hums approvingly. Danny smiles, “didn’t want to do that in the living room in case Jazz saw, she’s just slightly squeamish. I’ll be fine. You cool with sleeping cuddled up with Phantom? I heal faster like this”. She shoves the blankets down and weakly pulls him down into the bed, him going along with it.

Valerie readjusts to have her head on him, asking after a bit, noting the spandex-like material, “jumpsuit?”. 

Danny responds with his eyes closed, “part of me, like your suit. Can take off, pain in the ass though. Not worth effort”. She nods acceptingly and sighs contentedly, “kay, at least it’s comfy”. 

“Glad you agree”. 

* * *

Danny wakes up to Valerie inspecting his arm and eyeing the ecto-line, “it’s fine I swear”, startling her a little. She glares at him, “lean to dodge”. Danny just shrugs, “eh. And Technus didn’t mean to, he’s not one of the ones that actually want to seriously harm me. He helped me figure out an issue I was having with producing my own ecto-line as a sorta apology”. Technus loves tech though, so it wasn’t purely him saying sorry. 

She points at his stitching, “ecto-line?”. Danny nods, “yup, only stuff my ectoplasm won’t dissolve and that I won’t accidentally phase off. Should probably pull them out now”. Valerie shakes her head and laughs a little, muttering, “your healing is stupid”, as she gets up to snip the stitching for him. 

* * *

Sam calls later that morning just before Jazz is heading over to Fenton Works. Danny picks up the phone as he waves her goodbye.

“Hey Sam, you two already arrived?”

_“Of course Danny. We rushed a bit but you should have expected that. So come down and get us you sleepy ass”._

Danny chuckles, “fine fine, but I only have so many arms”. Danny smiles wide as he hangs up. Poking his head into the weapons room as Valerie is shooting off the fixed gun at some targets. “Sam and Tuck are here so I’ll be back shortly. Told you it would work”. He smirks as he phases up through the ceiling catching Valerie mutter, “smart ass”. 

Landing behind a tree he changes back human and walks up into the airport. It takes no more than a few seconds for his two best friends to see him and they all start heading to a secluded area. 

Tucker smacks him on the arm, “at least you’re easy to find, dude. And here’s the setup”, pulling a little crazy looking screen out of his pocket for Danny to inspect, “also Vlad was only recording calls and the G.I.W. were just going through files”, smirking, “everything’s wiped of course and there _might_ be a few new viruses”. Danny gives a wide grin, “Tuck nice, no need to even hook anything up? The government should fear you. For multiple reasons apparently”. Sam snickers a bit at that, “actually, he got himself on yet _another_ watch list finally. Accidentally hacked a plane of all things”. Tucker throws his hands up, “I just wanted the uni speakers to connect faster and more numerously. But those people should have thanked me for blasting the sweet tunes of Murder By Death”. 

Danny laughs as he grabs their bags, which is almost too many. While Tucker and Sam grab his arms tightly. Flying back he asks Tuck, “trying to use every speaker on campus en masse?”. Tucker rolls his eyes like that should be obvious, “but of course. The stuff they play is awful. It’s all country or blues”. Sam nods and makes a disgusted face, while they all phase through the ceiling. 

Valerie hears him put down their things, in the rather crowded living room, “there is a thing called doors you know”. Sam smirks at Danny, “are you actually trying to get into the habit of actually using them again or something?”. Valerie sticks her head out, “I haven’t known super long so you could say he has”, looking to Danny, “do you really forgo doors _that much_?”. 

Danny smiles sheepishly and nods. Then promptly changes the topic, digging in his bag and pulling her cell out of its circular prison; tossing the phone to her, “your phone’s good now, they got nothing”, she gives him a curt nod before he looks back to his friends, “and before we get into long-winded discussion and stories, want to see the portal?”. Sam and Tuck both go wide-eyed. 

“Danny what?”. 

“Dude, you built a freaking portal?”. 

Sam, with her hands on her hips, “did you get it turned on without half or full-on killing anyone?”. Danny chuckles as they head to the room, “no one even slightly died. Not even a tiny amount of death. Not a smidge. I’m not an idiot who puts switches inside things or uses diet pop in the filtrator”. They all chuckle at that while Valerie mutters, “how have they not be sued?”. Danny shrugs at her, being the only one that heard, as he opens the portal up. 

As soon as Tucker walks in and sees the colours he starts laughing, “dude really? I’m starting to think you have two Obsessions!”. Danny scowls and flips him off. 

Sam just looks pleased as Valerie looks confused, asking around to the group, “Obsessions? Danny what?”. Making Sam sigh as she looks to her, “he hasn’t gotten to explaining that yet has he?”. 

Meanwhile, Tucker sticks his head in the portal and back out, “dude this is such a better location!”. Danny smiles as the two bicker about the Hell of always being so close to Walker. While Sam explains to Valerie, “every ghost has an Obsession, even half-ghosts. Though it’s less controlling or demanding for them. In case it isn’t obvious, Danny’s is protecting or protection. His ghost side took his self-sacrificing ways and amplified them into a full-blown hero-complex. Simply put, his ghost side needs to help people and protect them, in the same way his human side needs to eat or drink”. Valerie shakes her head, “that makes a lot of sense actually. Explains why he gets so pissy about anyone getting hurt or not knowing if a fights been handled”. Also explains why it was so easy for him to put the ghost fighting before _everything_. Why he’s so willing to be helpful, to be ‘protective’, for anyone. And why he’s so firm in him doing what he does. 

Sam nods and shivers, “it’s basically been established that when he was younger, failing to protect would mess him up _really_ bad. Not the same anymore, but still”. Valerie nods and gets what -or more so who- she’s referring to pretty quickly, electing to change the conversation, “I’ll keep that in mind, though now he has back-up or can be the back-up”, which earns a smile from the goth as she continues, “once Tucker is done fondling the portal want some tea? Or are you guys just as caffeine-addicted as he is?”. Sam snickers as the boys join them. 

Eventually, all four are impressively gathered in the kitchen, Tucker showing Danny how to work the surveillance. While Sam protectively drills Valerie, “so now that you know you better not be using him to test things”. Valerie shakes her head rapidly, “Hell no,-”. She gets cut off as the audio on the live surveillance comes on.

_“I can’t believe the two of you. So what? You expect me to be okay with legally losing a brother for reasons you haven’t even **explained**?”. _

-Everyone’s eyes move to the device, on-screen Jazz has her hands on her hips and looks as close to pissed as Danny thinks he’s ever seen her-

_“Jazz honey, of course not, but Phantom is one of those ectoplasmic scum. An It, a monster, we can’t allow that here. I mean, just think how dangerous that is, It shouldn’t even be here”, it’s clear Maddie is trying to sound protective and caring, but Jazz is just glaring as she lets her father speak._

_Jack looks decidedly sadder than his wife, “Danny is dead Jazzypants, and a ghost isn’t family. Can’t be”, holding his hands as he tries explaining what he thinks are facts, “ghosts are violent and dangerous, it doesn’t matter who It was. It’d be better off melted down and studied than staying around. Even if It behaves for now It **will** hurt people”. Jazz crosses her arms angrily and shoves off the ‘comforting hand’ Jack tries to put on her shoulder._

—Meanwhile, all of them sit in silence, Sam and Valerie not even looking at the screen anymore. All of them look pissed, Valerie most of all who’s staring daggers into the table top. Danny’s expression is harder to read but based off his white knuckle grip of his own hands and the swirls of green coming to his eyes, it’s clear he’s furious. Sam eyes Danny every now and again to see if he’s going to destroy something or otherwise freak out—

_Jazz shakes her head disappointedly, “you two are idiots, you know that? Danny is not an ‘It’ and if he was going to be a danger he would have been so a **very** long time ago. That’s something called basic logic and rational reasoning, something you two apparently forgot how to do”, pointing at them, “if anyone here has been a danger it’s you. **You are** the ones who attack without care and without being able to accept that you might be wrong. **You are** the ones hurting people by rejecting your own son for something, that while he doesn’t blame you at all for, is **your fault.** You’re standing here on your high horses like you have all the answers and like you’re being proper protective parents; but you don’t and you’re not. Danny is the one in the right here and he’s the one in danger, **not you** ”. _

_Jack looks shocked while Maddie is slowly looking more and more displeased, “Jazz how could you think that? I thought we raised you knowing how those things are? The science says so”, shaking her own head in disappointment, “I’d think you of all people would understand that facts don’t care about feelings”, Maddie’s tone is slightly scolding but also worried as of saying ‘how could you be rejecting such plain truth?’._

_Jazz’s frown deepens, “no, mom. What you do, what you’ve done, isn’t science. Science is unbiased. You aren’t coming in with a theory and seeing if it’s right. You’re coming in with a theory and ignoring every single piece of proof that it is wrong. That’s not science, that’s biased opinions. That’s no better than anti-vaxxers or flat-earthers”, Jazz keeps going while the Fenton’s look genuinely insulted, “you’re right facts don’t care about feelings, but you’re coming from a place of feelings, not facts. Because the facts disagree with you, the facts disprove your lifetime's work”, sighing, “and you can’t accept that even at the cost of your family”. Jazz hasn’t so much as moved but she looks more dejected and disappointed than angry now._

_Jack bends down to be more on her level, “what are you saying Jazzypants? Of course the facts back us up. Phantom is just an anomaly, that happens. The only reason It hasn’t harmed anyone is because Its human side is keeping It in check”, shaking his head slightly, “that won’t last”._

—Danny flinches at that, hating how that was true in a way. But this also explained how they decided to compartmentalise what they saw thanks to the crystals. They saw Phantom as the monster, as _Dan_ , and human Danny as the good force restraining the _monster_. Tucker wants to pat or rub him supportively, but the frost on his clothing and bits of flames flicking off him here and there makes Tucker decide that’s probably a bad idea—

_Jack looks a bit like a kicked puppy but Jazz doesn’t bend, shaking her head at them, “well then I guess sixty-five percent of ghosts must all be anomalies, oh wait, that’s doesn’t fit the definition of ‘anomaly’”, snapping, “so you must be wrong; by fact alone. A large portion of humans are plain awful, so that must make us monsters too?”._

_Maddie looks completely shocked, “of course not honey, humans aren’t predisposed to evil and violence; all ghosts inherently are”. Jazz shakes her head again, “there’s no proof for either of those. I should know, unlike you, I did actual research with an **open mind.** Humans' natural disposition is hotly contested and while ghosts are more keen to fight, most just want to be left alone. So again you are not siding with facts”, Jazz sighs and pinches her nose but doesn’t give them a chance to speak._

_“We are going around in circles here, so I’ll just say it. You are wrong, that’s a fact. What you have done to Danny is wrong, that is a fact. You caring more about your research than your kids must also be a fact otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation”, sighing seemingly defeatedly and looking back to the pair of hunters, “you know what you should have done? Dropped your research and your beliefs and hugged your damn son. Accepted him like every **good** parent should and would. But you didn’t”, shaking her head slowly, “and that’s the final straw for me. You don’t even have the self-awareness or basic decency to even consider what you’ve done to be wrong. Being there for Danny and being a good sister is more important than appeasing your egos and hate-based ‘research’. Or listening to it for that matter. So consider me a ghost too, because you don’t have any kids anymore”. _

_Jazz turns to head out the door as the two stare at her, dumbfounded. Standing in the doorway Jazz turns to face them again, speaking with an impressive amount of finality, “Fenton Works will die with you and clearly it should”, with that Jazz slams the door shut; leaving Jack and Maddie standing in their living room._

The group watch as Jack and Maddie sit down, Jack once again in shock and looking like he just lost the longest fight of his life. While Maddie numbly mutters that Phantom must have done something to Jazz too and that It has destroyed everything, probably as part of some evil plot. The two never once taking the blame on themselves or questioning their ways.

Danny’s eyes are practically blazing green and he hasn’t moved the whole time. Valerie slams her head into the table not trusting herself to speak. Tucker limply turns off the device and places it down on the table. Looking up he shares a look of worry for their friend, with Sam. Blood was beginning to run down Danny’s left hand from his own harsh prolonged grip on it and there was frost on the table around him. 

The first thing anyone hears is a low angry growl from Danny. Sam slowly pulls an impact disc out from her bag and puts it in front of the obviously pissed halfa. Who promptly punches it full force, breaking a few fingers but using the pain and satisfaction of hitting something as a release of anger and aggression. The loud sound makes Valerie jerk but she doesn’t lift her head up, “you okay?”. To which Danny just growls, “no”, before punching the plate again. 

Everything is silent for a beat before Danny mutters through gritted teeth, “how fucking **dare they**. Melting down like some chemical in a damn beaker”, Danny stops for a second, images of Dani melting flashing in his head rapidly. Which just makes his anger mix with protective desire, practically snarling and his hands lighting with blue fire entirely for a second, “ **if they touch a hair on her I will _END_ them!**”. Causing everyone to jump, as the table snaps in half; Danny’s powers lashing out at the one thing near him that’s alright to damage.

Tucker quickly grabs the surveillance device before it crashes to the ground, while the impact plate clatters to the ground. Danny’s chair bursts into flames and practically explodes apart sending him onto his back on the ground, but he just lays there and stares at the ceiling angrily. Sam catches the side of the table that wasn’t coated in ice and pushes it against the wall, before stomping out any flames on the floor with her shoe; glad for the ecto-coating on the bottom of them.

A note slides under the door, the sound of it moving across the floor breaking up the short silence that had settled. Valerie numbly walks over and picks it up:

_Jesse, I have pumpkin spice and soya sauce ice cream for the angry God whom I’ve decided is more or less harmless._

Valerie opens the door as Danny lays his arm over his eyes; making a conscious effort to restrain his powers. Jesse walks in to the sight of destroyed furniture, scorch marks, puddles of misting water, and a downed Danny. She whistles faintly as she walks over, bends down, and shoves a scoop of ice cream in his mouth; while Sam and Tucker stare at the stranger in mild shock. 

The ice cream melts completely in Danny’s mouth before he realises it’s even there. Danny blinks into his arm a bit before mumbling a very confused, “what?”, but it breaks his anger a bit. Jesse speaks softly at him, “I find drowning in ice cream the best way to stew over emotions without being consumed by them, you angry god”. 

She shoves more into his mouth as Sam and Tucker look even more confused. Jesse looks to them, “hey new people”, pointing to herself, “certified neighbour”, and shoves another ice cream spoonful into the mouth of the guy who’s aura is lashing around rather terrifyingly. Valerie’s about to close the door as Jazz comes back. Looking down and at the table, “what did I miss? And is Danny okay?”. Tucker looks at her and lifts up the device, “we saw what happened. He saw. I wouldn’t say ‘okay’ is the right word”. 

Jazz sighs sadly and sits down on Danny’s left, leaning against his lifted-up arm; forearm still across his eyes. “I meant what I said, little brother. Pick yourself up like you always do and we can all walk off into the sunset together”. Between the ice cream, solid floor, and Jazz’s cheesy line Danny can’t help but laugh. As everyone still standing sits down around him, feeling relieved and strung out. No one really feels like talking, or really tired thinking; instead just being physically there for each other and specifically Danny. Jesse passing around the ice cream till it’s gone. Eventually, they all fall asleep, their heads on Danny’s torso. 

The new neighbour, who hasn’t even bothered to introduce themselves to anyone, walks by the open door and stares at the scene before closing the door. Muttering, “Amity Park just keeps getting weirder”.


	12. The Heart (Core) Of The Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valerie doesn't exactly know much about Cores or halfa physiology for that matter.

Sam, Tucker, and Valerie all turn their heads to the kitchen entryway when Danny comes in, pausing their cleaning. Tucker walks over and gives him a solid comforting pat, “you doing good now dude? The neighbour lady went to work and Jazz is getting stuff”. Danny nods at him before looking to Valerie as she lifts up a bit of charred wood, “your powers sure can be destructive”, making him rub his neck sheepishly. 

Danny looks out the kitchen entryway and back, “did you guys carry me to bed?”. Sam rolls her eyes at him, “Danny, you weigh a hundred and eleven pounds _at best._ Moving you isn’t a difficult task”. Tucker chuckles, “outside of your size being a pain in the ass”, making everyone chuckle. Valerie shakes her head, “how do you weigh so little? I figured you’d be at least three hundred or so. Considering”, she flicks his large bicep to make her point. 

Danny shrugs, “eh just one of the ways my ghost physiology changes things. Most of the water that regular humans have in their bodies is ectoplasm in mine. Which weighs practically nothing and goes against gravity. If I negate or liquify all my organs and bones and stuff, I weigh about as much as a large potato”. 

Valerie raises an eyebrow, “why a potato? And you can do that?”. Danny nods while Tucker snickers, “because, that’s what we used for comparison at the time”, earning some laughs. 

Danny gets a bit annoyed at Sam continuously smacking him away from helping with the cleanup, instead turning his attention to Valerie at noticing her giving the halves of the table a grumpy look and her grumbling, “what am I supposed to do with this?”. Danny rubs his neck, “I could just burn it?”. She glares at him, “I don’t think the smoke alarms would appreciate that, Danny”. Danny snorts, “do you really think this building is _that_ up to code?”.

"You might have a point".

Tucket snickers, "yeah I noticed the cameras were fake". Danny points at him, "which is actually good for me", looking back to Valerie and waving a hand around, “and my flames are smokeless anyways”. She grumbles, “and then there'd be a pile of ash and nails on the ground. Which fine, _would_ be easier to deal with”.

Tucker feels the need to butt in at that, “actually, no. His flames burn _everything_ , that’s another thing we tested. Which yeah, using diamonds and uranium wasn’t the safest or cheapest way to do that-”. Sam cuts him off and whirls around on the boys, “wait, you guys _actually_ did that?”, then smacking both of them over the head, “fucking idiots”. 

Tucker chuckles as he rubs his head, looking to Valerie, “I’d say he burns hot enough to consume anything, but Danny’s more of the icy hellfire kinda hot”, making Danny roll his eyes. 

Valerie looks at the table, it would be easier than throwing it out the window and collecting the broken pieces or something, and shrugs, shoving the table halves at the halfa, “what was up with your ice and fire acting up anyway? I mean nice dichotomy, but I thought the intangibility and invisibility were the ones that sorta used themselves?”. 

Sam and Tucker snicker at him while the table bits burst into raging blue flames at the touch of his right fingers. Danny points at his friends with the hand that isn’t committing arson, “shut it. Not a word”, only earning more snickering as he looks to Valerie, “my ice and fire work a bit differently than my other powers. All my, I guess you could say, cold powers are connected to my Core rather than just my body and ectoplasm in general”, pausing to mutter to himself as the flames die out leaving nothing behind, “how have I not explained my Core yet?”, his friends roll their eyes while he shakes his head, “whatever”, and looks back to Valerie, “okay so, Core’s are basically an organ, it pretty much works like a heart. It cleans, flows, and absorbs ectoplasm for us. If a ghosts Core gets destroyed they’ll fade away, be destroyed. But that’s super hard to do and a serious crime”.

Valerie nods, “yeah, that sounds like murder”. Sam snorts, “‘cause it is”. Tucker points at Danny, “little bit different for a halfa though”. Which Danny nods at and explains, “Cores sorta have this stabilisation phase after the ghost first forms, during that time it can effectively be modified, cracked, or... _corrupted_ ”, wincing a little and clearing his throat, “or in a halfas case, dissolved or absorbed to make them fully human again. Which Desiree once did to me thanks to a wash gone wrong”. 

Sam crosses her arms and huffs, “and I've already said sorry for that”, looking at Valerie, “he had to re-die to get his ghost half back”, making the Huntress wince. Though if she’s understanding this right and ClockWork’s comment about Danny’s ice -his Core- stabilising preventing him from turning evil, then the ‘terrible awful thing’ that happened must have corrupted his Core. Based on Danny emphasising and wincing at that word anyways. Which would mean that Danny legitimately _can’t_ ‘go bad’ now, at least not that way. And Danny has said he couldn’t become fully human anymore, so that only confirmed her theory, “so I take it your Core’s stable now?”. 

Danny nods and chuckles a bit, he’s quite thankful for that fact, “yup, also means I’m considered an adult ghost rather than a child ghost like I used to be”. Tucker snickers at him, “kinda funny you became an adult human before an adult ghost”. Danny shoves him playfully, “hey, some child ghosts _never_ grow up or take centuries. And I grew up before Vlad”. Sam quirks an eyebrow, “isn’t he _still_ a child ghost?”. Danny smirks, “yup”. Valerie can’t help snorting and laughing at that, leaning against the counter, “what the Hell? Why? What even makes ghosts ‘grow up’?”. 

The three shrug and speak in unison, “no idea”. Danny adding, “and ClockWork won’t give me a straight answer. All I know is it has something to do with the Zone, which is slightly sentient by the way, just deciding it’s time the ghost grows up”.

Valerie screws up her face at the whole ‘the Zone has sentience’ thing, “that’s a bit horrifying actually. Glad you’re grown though”, it would be a bit odd to be dating a technical child. Danny mutters, “fucking same”, before she asks, “how the heck do you even know you’re grown though? Can you just feel it or something?”. Tucker snickers and speaks up before Danny can, “you can hear it. Hearts beat, Cores pulse”, smirking meanly at Danny, “like purring”. Danny scowls at him and shoves him over. Sam and Valerie just snicker, neither refuting the comment since it was true; though Valerie hadn’t really made that connection before, heck! she hadn’t known what was actually making that sound before. 

Danny rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, effectively covering his Core somewhat, “anyway. It’s generally easy to tell adult ghosts from child ghosts. Vlad uses a glamour item to make himself look like an adult, because ego obviously. Adult ghosts have fangs or shark teeth, claws, and pointed ears”, Danny transforms purely to show off his own. 

Valerie reaches up to give his ear tip a flick, making him blush green a little, “so that’s why your look suddenly changed”, earning nods all around. 

Danny rubs his neck, “adult ghosts are also stronger, usually have more Core related powers too. My fire’s an adult thing. And my Core’s an ice Core, in case that wasn’t obvious”. Making Valerie snort, though tilting her head, “still doesn’t explain why your ice and fire went all crazy and ruined the table”. Danny sighs and rubs his neck, “I have a bad habit of tapping into my ghost side when I’m mad”. Tucker points at him, “scary eyes”. Danny rolls his eyes, “yeah, that. At least I’m better at _not_ doing that now. In public at least”, Danny changes back since his body was starting to get annoyed with the whole staying on the ground thing. Smirking over startling Valerie slightly. 

Valerie scowls at him and smacks his arm, “ass, though I guess using dangerous stuff makes sense then. I like hitting shit and making things go boom when I’m pissed too”. Sam mutters, “I think the entire towns noticed that”, earning a scowl from Valerie. 

Danny chuckles, recapturing her attention, “it’s not quite that simple, Val. Like I said, Core’s an organ. If you get someone really upset or overworked, their heart will beat fast and they’ll breathe rapidly. Same happens with a Core. ‘Cept instead of making me breathe fast or my chest feel horrible, it makes me icy”, shrugging, “usually it’ll just make me cold to the touch or drop the temperature around me; maybe form frost on my skin”. Tucker shoves him, “I’m just impressed you didn’t cause a snowstorm. Especially since it’s winter”.

“Uh”. 

Sam sighs, tilts her head back, “goddamnit Danny”, and walks to the window, pulling the blinds back; effectively revealing the snowy winter wonderland going on outside. At least it wasn’t actively snowing and Amity being used to the insane and random happenings -including freak snowstorms- had cleared the roads quickly and effectively. Danny just gives an awkward shrug as the goth walks back over while shaking her head at him. Valerie’s just wrapping her head around the fact that _Danny_ was the cause for the occasional out of place snow, “your Core is insane”. 

Danny shrugs, “this place being my lair doesn’t exactly help. The table only froze up because it was touching me though. Now my fire acting up is a little more complicated”. Tucker snorts and rolls his eyes, “not really dude, that one’s just tied to your emotions”. 

“I might as well explain _why_ , Tuck”. 

Sam rolls her eyes as the boys bicker, leaning against the counter with Valerie after dumping out her dustpan, “remember when the weather went crazy for a while and Vlad was claiming he made a weather-controlling device? He was actually just controlling a ridiculously powerful weather ghost, like a dumbass, which predictably backfired splendidly. The ghost escaped but not before electrocuting the high Hell out of Danny, which tied literally _all_ the weather to his emotions. Hence why the weather was behaving like a moody teenager”. Valerie pinches the bridge of her nose, “oh my god”, sighing, “I’m assuming, and hoping honestly, that got undone?”. 

Sam nods but Danny leans over interjecting, “getting re-zapped by Vortex’s lightning seemed to fix that. It left an impression on me though, on my young unstabilised Core. When my fire manifested it basically grabbed onto that”. Tucker sticks up a finger, “and thus ‘burning anger’ became literal”, and pats Danny’s back.

Danny points at him, “my hot temper and it’s flaming fury”, snickering, “a real _ragging inferno_ ”, making everyone groan. Just then Jazz pushes in the door -making Danny a bit surprised that the door wasn’t locked at all- and puts a few bags on the floor. 

Danny quickly moving to help, “you could have called, the elevator here barely works and you didn’t need to carry this all the way from Fenton Works”. Jazz puts her hands on her hips, “it’s _my_ stuff and I needed to deal with it myself”, digging in her pocket and pulling out a little corked bottle, “also, here. Don’t worry, it’s still sealed well”, pausing before adding, “ClockWork well, not Jack well”; no one bats an eye at the use of the Fenton patriarch’s first name. 

Danny nods and takes the bottle, noting the thick blood-red colour with purple specks. Blood Blossom extract. He had a feeling they’d find this, since his hiding methods relied pretty heavily on humans not being able to reach inside solid objects. This wasn’t something he could’ve just destroyed on his way out either, and remaking/reacquiring it would be insanely difficult. Leaving it in Fenton Works would have worried him, considering how dangerous anything Blood Blossoms related was, if it wasn’t something he crafted with ClockWork. When ClockWork seals something, it _stays_ sealed unless it _needed_ not to be. 

Valerie quirks an eyebrow, “what’s that?”. Danny holds up a finger telling her to wait for a second before walking to the living room far wall and phasing the bottle into the wall under one of the window corners and nods curtly before turning back to everyone. “Blood Blossom extract, me and ClockWork made it. Also yes, I use walls and floors as storage space”. 

Valerie gives him a slightly unimpressed look, though she could see the use of that; no one could take something they couldn’t see or touch. Valerie shakes her head, “well I’m almost surprised you didn’t hide your _emergency bags_ in the wall then”. Danny rubs his neck, “these walls aren’t that thick, and I trust you. Back then included. Though I did stuff the more important and temperamental stuff in”, he then puts his hand on the wall to turn the top layer invisible, revealing the rather large collection of stuff in the wall.

Valerie gapes at him a little, while everyone else -Jazz included- laugh. Valerie shakes her head after a bit, “you better remember where and what everything is. And don’t you dare do that to my stuff, I’m not cutting a hole in the wall just to get a gun. Also, what the heck’s Blood Blossom?”.

Tucker grimaces and rubs his stomach looking almost pained, “a terrible flower I had to eat a pound of once”. Valerie blinks at him, “you mean... you _actually_ ate a _plant_? A _veggie_? That’s almost more shocking than Danny’s half-dead state”. Danny chuckles, “I’m not even offended”. Tucker points at Valerie, “not because I wanted to! It was that or Danny-dude possibly dying. I value his life over my diet”. Danny chuckles again, “what’s left of it anyway”. Sam glares at him, “it was killing your ghost half too, dumbass”.

Valerie shakes her head, “so what I’m getting here is that these Blood Blossoms are deadly to ghosts?”. Danny nods, “yeah, _deadly_ to the _dead_. Makes the _dead_ , _deader_ ”, snickering as they roll their eyes, then continuing more seriously, “a few ghosts made sure to systematically drive them into extinction. They pretty much cause extreme pain and make ectoplasm destabilise and cannibalise itself. A single drop of that extract could absolutely destroy a ghost. My human side protects me a bit but not entirely. A drop of that in my human form would just make me deathly ill”. Valerie mutters, “Jesus Christ”, while Danny continues, “ClockWork and me went back in time to collect some and make the extract. It can’t be kept in the Zone so I keep it”.

“But, _why_ though?”, Valerie glares, “and I don’t like that you’re handling something that could practically kill you with the slightest touch”. Danny just shrugs and waves her off, making her scowl at him. 

Jazz rolls her eyes, “apocalypse contingency plan”, making Valerie choke and look at her wide-eyed, while Jazz explains herself, “basically him being paranoid and wanting something that even a child could use to deal with a world-ending kind of ghost in case all else failed”. 

Danny points at his sister, “hey now, it’s not paranoia when I need _both_ my hands to count the number of times the worlds been at risk of destruction by an over-powered ghost”. Valerie blinks, “WHAT?!?”, pinching the bridge of her nose and breathing a little, “I’m guessing one’s Pariah and well... you know”, she has a feeling Danny wouldn’t appreciate her explicitly reminding him of Dan. Danny nods looking a little awkward. 

Sam grumbles, “UnderGrowth was another”, grimacing, “which I sorta helped with”. Tucker grins, “well I’ve never almost destroyed the world”, earning a round of glares. Danny smirks after a bit, “I don’t know man, you _did_ help Technus almost take over the internet; that’s pretty close. And who knows where the Pharaoh Tuck incident would have went”, Tucker just rolls his eyes. 

Jazz shakes her head and moves to grab Sam’s and Tucker’s arms, “don't forget, you all helped stop each one. And I can think of at least three times humans have done the same due to an over-interest in ghosts”, looking at Sam and Tucker, “now you two are coming with me, we’ve got shopping to do”, pointing at Danny as she practically drags the two friends out the door, “and you, no following”. Danny’s only response is a mischievous grin. 

Valerie yanks on his ear as the door closes, “you have to help me pick out a new table, one a little more ghost proof”. Danny rubs his neck, “that’s fair”, making her laugh as she grabs her purse.


	13. Euthanise The Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas time with his real family.

About a week later sees Jesse inviting everyone to her apartment for Christmas and offering her place as somewhere to store presents, once she found out Danny and Valerie had effectively been banned to sleeping on the couch so the bedroom could be used as storage. Which the gang was grateful for, since three people staying in one apartment was crowded enough without not one but two rooms effectively blocked off; no one was about to sleep in the weapons/portal room, regardless of how comforting Danny found the portal. At least Sam and Tucker were staying with their respective families. 

And all too quickly it was time for their little party. With everyone, except Valerie, seeing the inside of Jesse’s apartment for the first time. 

Jazz nods at the simple yet nice white cloth over the table with a large chocolate bowl on top, “you're a pretty stable person. Little quirky. A more mature socialite rather than a partier”. Jesse giggles, “I like people but I’m not a frat boy”, gesturing toward the living room, “if you got any more little boxes of joy, stick them under the tree. I’ve got a little roast going, it’s got rosemary!”.

Valerie blinks, “that’s decidedly normal I see”. Jesse grins, “I speared it with limes instead of pineapple”, making Valerie laugh. 

Jazz shakes her head, “still sounds edible and I did have another present but that’s left with my stuff; I’ll deal with that whenever I can be bothered”, and nods curtly to herself. Opening a present from _the Fenton’s_ would be counterproductive to everyone here. Danny sighs and shakes his head. Sam scowls a little. Tucker and Valerie just pretend Jazz didn’t say anything. 

Danny stands in front of the tree, surprised by how not good it is; especially considering how generally put together Jesse looked and the frilly light coloured _everything_ in the apartment. He was expecting, like, a purple tree with pink lights and bows everywhere; maybe fake frosted glass balls, tiny ceramic bells, woodland animal figures, or things covered in sparkles. Not a tree that was missing over half it’s little leaf/spine things and was a brown that was clearly once green; a few of the branches are completely missing, bent, or broken. Though he is impressed the little angel topper is managing to stay on, considering how it was smushed up against the ceiling at nearly a ninety-degree angle. 

Tucker comes up next to him and whistles, “whelp I’m impressed, this tree looks like its seen more shit than any other in the world”. Jesse sticks her head in, “it was stuffed inside a mattress the previous tenant left behind actually. Imagine all the stories it carries? All the wonders it’s seen? It’s got character”. Tucker snorts, “and probably a curse”, turning to Sam as she walks in from the kitchen, “look at this and tell me it’s not cursed? You know all that spooky shit”. 

Sam rolls her eyes, “you can’t just see a curse Tucker, but no I’ve never seen some beat-up tree in any curses and malaflictions Encyclopedia”. Jesse giggles to herself as she checks on the food again, “well it certainly has no aura, so it ain’t spooky”. Sam follows her into the kitchen and tilts her head, “I've heard of people who can see auras and Danny and them are certain you can. That the case? They also said you find Danny’s pretty strange, how so?”. 

Jesse laughs, “I’ve never had so many believe me on that, but yes sweetie. Yes I indeed can. Ghostly auras. Mostly just tells me a person’s personality and strong emotions. Ghost ones are kinda different, super-strong auras, that cling to _everything_ and seem to bleed off of them”, looking Sam up and down, “you’ve only got Phantom, no surprise there! Just passing our welcome to Amity sign well give anyone a layer of the local flying good boy!”, giggling a little, “other than that you’re a strong-willed person, little aggressive, definitely protective too”, tilting her head and glancing to the living room, “Tucker gots a protectiveness too, both you seem to have that aimed at Leather, Jazz too. Leather’s got a protective sturdy super powerful aura, that’s aimed at everything and one though. Also got a really built up layering of ghostly ones, like Vee”, shaking her head and shivering just a little while glancing at the living room, “I’m pretty used to him and his feeling now but it’s still a bit on the unnerving side”, pointing at Sam whose eyebrows are raised, “boys’ got too much power in that aura of his”.

Sam watches the girl for a bit. Obviously she didn’t know about Danny’s halfa state but she knew he was decidedly not normal. Explained the ‘god’ thing and her gut tells her this girl is being honest. Nodding curtly, “he can be unnerving to normal people too. Scary if he tries”.

“Not hard when you’re a freakishly tall brick shit house”.

Both girls jump, Sam whirling around and smacking him, “you ass!”, making him laugh. Jesse puts a hand on her chest, “bad scary Leather!”, shaking her head and pointing at the table, “now eat a chocolate and make it disappear from the table. Roast’s ready”. 

Danny quirks an eyebrow, “that’s a lot of chocolate to eat”, but eats just one and moves the bowl to the side as asked. No one even needs to call Tucker as he comes bolting in as soon as the roasts pulled out of the small oven, “meat!”. Making everyone but Sam -who scowls- laugh. Though Sam smiles a bit when Jesse puts out a bowl of veggie mash as well. 

Everyone takes their food, no one sitting because, frankly, the table’s too bloody small for that. Not that anyone actually cares. Instead sitting randomly around in the living room. Valerie leaning her back against Danny’s right arm, who’s leaned against the foot of a tiny chair. Jazz sitting cross-legged in a quaint little wicker rocking chair that’s probably meant to be outside. Sam sitting next to a little potted orchid, legs sticking out in front of her. Tucker’s sitting as close to the presents as he can without touching them near the entrance to the fire escape. Jesse looks around from her spot on a vintage floral print love seat, noting the goth nibbling at her mound of mash and the geek shovelling a _very_ generous portion of roast in his mouth like he’ll die if he doesn’t. 

Valerie notices this and smirks, speaking at Jesse, “Sam’s a vegetarian and Tucker is a hard-core meat-eater”. Sam points at Valerie, “that’s ultra-recyclo vegetarian”. Tucker snorts, “and I'm a meatatarian”. Jesse laughs and shakes her head, “polar opposites! Though how are either of you alive and healthy? Neither of those diets are healthy”. Danny groans very loudly as Sam and Tucker both jump to their own defences which devolves into the typical argument. 

“We don’t _need_ meat, that’s a fact”.

“Meat has everything I need”.

“Meat has nothing of value! All you’re getting is clotted arteries and cancer”.

“Your rabbit food’s just coated in pesticides and herbicides! Worms eat that crap”.

“How can you be defending eating _carcasses_. You just like the taste, fuck the pig's life so long as your taste buds are happy, right?”. 

“You _eat soil_. Normal people use that to grow food for the real food to eat or as cheap cat litter. Prey animals eat plants, humans ain’t prey and I sure as shit ain't”. 

“You calling me a victim just cause I don’t make victims out of other sentient creatures!”.

“You’re a victim of a weak disgusting diet that’s for sure”.

Jesse lifts her plate up to cover her mouth and gives the two looks of cautious surprise. While Danny sighs, gets up, and shoves handfuls of food in their respective mouths to silence them. They both scowl at him but shut up anyway. Jesse shakes her head, “well Leather, you’re obviously the ragtag gang leader”, pointing at the two previously bickering friends, “and not to egg that on, but you’re both wrong”.

Jazz sighs, “as I’ve pointed out myself many times”. Earning scowls from the two. Danny shrugs, “I’m used to it, part of the charm”, which earns him fond eyerolls. Valerie pats his cheek, “at least they aren’t fuelled largely by caffeine”. Danny manages to turn his head quick enough to lick her hand. “Ewwww, _why???_ ”. Danny just snickers. 

Jesse laughs and straightens her little red dress, getting up, “alright, my place dearies, so I’m handing things out”. Everyone nodding acceptingly. 

Danny thinks a bit on how this is the first Christmas he’s had that wasn’t at least partly complete miserable chaos due to Jack’s and Maddie’s arguing. The lack of all that was weird but nice. He truly deeply hated that fighting. Hated that more than them shooting at him even. So he guesses this will be his most pleasant Christmas ever. His best one. And that was kind of sad wasn’t it? His happiest memory of Christmas would likely be the first one where they weren’t involved. Where the two people who brought him into the world -both halves in a sense-, raised him, and partly made him who he is; weren’t around anymore. 

Yet surprisingly, he finds he doesn’t really feel sad about that. Or mad. Or even annoyed. He was surprisingly okay with this. He had his little family here, most of it anyway; he’ll find some way to get in contact with Dani eventually. And Jesse had kind of wormed her way in; though she was the only one out of the loop about Phantom. Watching as she tosses, pushes, and carries things around to everyone. Ending with her nodding to herself over a job well done and flopping back into the love seat. 

Everyone tearing into the small little stacks of presents, occasionally commenting on them. 

Danny lifts up the authentic weathered leather combat boots and raises a judging eyebrow at Jesse, “really?”. She just smirks, “gotta complete the look, Leather”, making him chuckle. Sam sends him a little scowl, though having long given up trying to switch him to fake leathers. 

Tucker lifts up a giant plushie ham on the bone with a squeaky in it, promptly throwing it at Danny’s face; who doesn’t even try to dodge the squishy projectile.

Everyone chuckling over getting a weapon of some kind from Valerie. Even if everyone had given her weapons or red things in return. And even if she gives Danny a slightly confused eyebrow over the weird futuristic white gun thing that glowed blue. He snickers, “it’s a taser”. Valerie finds and pushes the trigger only to fire a rather large cluster of _blue lightning at the ceiling_ ; making everyone jump. Valerie bops Danny on the head, “taser?!? More like _lightning gun_. Fucking Hell Danny”. 

Jesse puts her hands on her hips, “keep the target practice in your own apartment would you”. Danny shrugs apologetically, while Valerie points at him, “blame him”.

Sam fiddles with the little fluorite lute Danny got her as everyone starts getting up and packing their gifts together to get ready to head out. Danny just stands, head tilted, in front of the tree. The thing really needed to be put out of its misery. “Hey Jesse?”.

She sticks her head in the entryway, “what can I do ya for?”. He doesn’t turn around, but does chuckle, “how much do you care about this tree?”. 

“Not particularly all that much. Might throw it out the window at the next ghost that starts terrorising the street”, giggling a little, “easy disposal”. She goes back to cleaning the roasts pan, while Tucker elbows Danny, “she’s got guts. Hopefully she won’t aim at one that wants the world to burn”. 

Danny snickers to himself, the mischief in his eyes making Tucker both cautious and curiously eager. Danny glances back at Jesse, who’s paying no attention to him now. Danny shrugs, lifts his arms skyward, and shouts, “NOW **BURN**!”, while subtly kicking the tree to get it to catch fire and burst into blue flames. Sam looks up from her stuff and rolls her eyes; while Jesse snaps her head over and makes a strangled sounding choke. 

Danny drops his arms, looks back to her, and grins like an idiot. Jesse looks from the tree, to him, and back to the tree before bursting into laughter and falling to the floor. “You are absolutely a trickster god! You set my tree on fire!”, her blinking and wheezing, “that somehow is blue and not burning the ceiling”.

Valerie comes rushing in looking alarmed, armed, and ready to kill a bitch(ghost), looking from the nearly burned to nothing ‘tree’ to Danny, who’s still grinning a bit manically, “WHAT THE FUCK DANNY!”. Jesse laughs harder from the ground, “I like how you don't even need to question anyone else being at fault other than the living Loki!”. 

Danny snickers, “I don’t do enough living for that title”, while Valerie smacks him over the head. Her scowling at him, “the _fuck_ is wrong with you Danny?!?”. Danny gestures to where the tree once was, “does it not look better?”. Valerie smacks him again. 

Jesse wheezes and pulls herself off the floor, moving to help see everyone off; laughing lightly all the while. Her shoving Danny’s chest as they stand by the doorway, him holding Valerie’s hand, “you’re a devil. You’re a god, but a devil. A devilish god. Behave yourself around us mortals”.

Danny snickers, “I’m perfectly well behaved”, both Jesse and Valerie roll their eyes. Valerie tugs on his hand, “come on you troublesome devil”, Danny lets himself get dragged off like a good boyfriend. 

Jesse shakes her head after closing the door. So the boy could summon flames or had some toy/invention that could make _blue fire_. Walking over and poking the floor with her slipper, apparently those flames were heatless too. Tilting her head, “Leather made the floor colder actually”, shaking her head. He sure was something else, that’s for sure. A good, if mischievous and chaotic, something else. That she probably had the favour of at this point. 

She’s still not sure what he’s a god -or maybe minor deity- of, but maybe that fire had something to do with it? Laughing a little, “well people do often think hellfire’s blue or violet due to burning off of sulphur. Sure that was more white and blue, but hey! Maybe he’s, like, a runaway bastard child of the devil or something”, shrugging, “if that’s the case, then good for him. Still think god’s more likely”. 

Tossing the little cupcake-shaped hand soap in the air that Leather got her and eating one of the little candies, staring down at the impressive king-sized throw blanket with macaroons printed on it; wondering where in the world to use it.

* * *

Jazz hands her stuff off to Danny claiming that she’s decided to spend some time out on the town, really she’s just looking to give the couple some alone time without blatantly pointing out that’s her reasoning. The couple just roll their eyes good-naturedly and wave her off. Sam and Tucker taking their stuff home, leaving Danny and Valerie to walk into their apartment alone.

Only for them to spot a very neat almost professional-looking wrapped gift sitting on the counter. Danny walks over and picks it up before sighing and looking back to Valerie, “it’s from Vlad”. Valerie scowls at it and watches Danny go through the motions of opening it. 

Danny can’t help his lip quirking up a little, pulling out a definitely expensive and showy bottle of whiskey, a pair of also definitely expensive dress shoes (in his exact size because of course Vlad would know, obsessive creepy bastard), and a necklace with gold and diamonds arranged to look like leaves on a branch with a flying bird made of rubies dangling off the bottom. Danny gives Valerie the necklace, leaving everything else on the table, and pulls out the card.

_‘Now I like to hope you have taste, though knowing you I doubt it; so I picked something flavoured more unusually. Consider the necklace a mutual olive branch of sorts; you are certainly better with her, my boy. And for the love of my eyes, combat boots DO NOT go with a suit. EVER’. - V͚͆̑͘_

Danny chuckles, mildly surprised but also impressed. While Valerie quirks an eyebrow, “another vague death threat? Or is he actually decent during ‘the most wonderful time of the year’?”. Danny grimaces at her, grumbling petulantly, “no quoting Christmas songs, I still hate those things”, lifting up the note, “the whiskey’s a jab at my tastes. The shoes are ‘cause he saw the video and noticed my ‘inappropriate’ shoes. And the necklace is a peace offering”, tilting his head, “well, more like saying he isn’t going to explicitly try to hurt you actively”.

Valerie holds up the necklace, it _was_ nice, “that’s comforting, I think?”, noticing a little plate on the chain near the clasp. Squinting at it while Danny tilts his head, “what is it”. 

“There’s a little inscription on a plate, ‘we must fly to live’. Well that’s bird-related”. 

Danny chuckles, Vlad never did things or pick things for such simple reasons, “no. More like reference how we all can fly. Need to. Me and him because of our ghost sides distaste for the ground, and my love of the sky. And you need that hover-board to do your job”. Valerie sighs almost pained, “of course it’s got some deeper meaning”, making Danny chuckle more. 

Valerie pokes the shoes, “these are your size huh? Why the heck is he so obsessed over you? Is it really all because of being halfas? Seems a little ridiculous”. Danny gives her a funny look, clearly something hadn’t been well communicated, “Val, he seems so obsessed because he _is_ Obsessed. Like, _ghostly Obsessed_ ”. 

“Okay? Do you think you could explain that? Or is this something weird for you to explain? I’m assuming this has to do with the Obsession thing Sam mentioned ghosts have?”.

Danny nods, rubbing his neck, “talking about _my own_ Obsession is weird yeah, makes it act up I guess”, shaking his head and dropping his hand, “basically, Vlad’s Obsession is possession. Possessing wealth, status, power, influence, _family_. I’m ‘the son’ he wants to possess, so I’m part of his Obsession”, shrugging, “ghosts will do a lot for their Obsessions. Depends the ghost too”.

Valerie raises an eyebrow, “even though he’s only a third ghost?”.

“Yup. Doesn’t help how often he fails his Obsession. Makes him more aggressive, narrow-minded, desperate, yada yada. As for why he got possessive of me? It’s not just because I’m a halfa, though that’s part of it”, shaking his head, “he would barely give a damn about that if I wasn’t Maddie’s genetic ‘son’. Possessing her was one of the focal points, or primary targets I guess, of his Obsession from the beginning. Now I’ve developed into a focal point”.

Valerie nods, she already knew Danny would get messed up by failing the Obsession thing. Seemed Vlad’s Obsession was a bit of a negative one though, just like him as a person; so whatever. “I guess that makes sense. You know though, possession wouldn’t be all that bad -like a dragon hoarding things- if he didn’t want _people_ ”, shaking her head, “being the focus or part of a ghosts Obsession sounds like a pretty bad thing”. 

Danny winces, physically recoiling. Making Valerie jerk, a little caught off guard, while he comments on that while staring a bit intensely, “Val, _you’re_ part of my Obsession. _Everyone_ in Amity is. Every ghost is too”, hissing slightly, “a _protector, **protects people**_ ”. 

Valerie blinks, mulling that over a little. Is that a good thing? Being part of _his_ Obsession. Obviously being part of Vlad’s wasn't really. And it did kind of make sense. If Danny was just obsessively protective equally and universally then he might protect buildings or stop signs or something. It was still a little unnerving and concerning being a part of a ghosts ‘Obsession’; even if that ghost was a halfa and Danny. Nodding, “am I... a focal point?”.

Danny actually fully hisses this time, “ _ **yes**_ ”, his voice taking on that power it sometimes did and echoing a little. Danny swallows and looks around a little before looking back to her, “Sam, Tucker, Jazz too. Jesse a little”. Valerie chuckles awkwardly and tries to lighten the mood, “she’s made that much of an impression on you huh?”, making Danny snort and blush a bit in obvious embarrassment. 

Valerie walks over and leans against the counter next to him and bumps her shoulder into his arm, “guessing we’re focal points because you care more about us?”, at his nod she continues, “well that’s okay then, good even”, nodding herself and throwing a smile at Danny. Who smiles back after a bit, it looked a little uncomfortable and forced though. 

Valerie smirks, getting an idea to get Danny out of his probable weird -Obsessive maybe?- headspace, and leans forward to snatch up the whiskey, “want to drink Vlad’s expensive bullshit in shitty cheap plastic cups?”. Danny’s smile‘s a bit more genuine this time and he laughs while taking the bottle from her and cracking it open. Her grabbing the solo cups. 

They sip at it, Valerie screwing up her face, “isn’t whiskey supposed to taste earthy or smoky? This tastes slightly like salty chlorine and blackberries; which yeah, that’s weird”. Danny tilts his head and sips some more, “eh, more buttery to me. And...”, Danny snorts and shakes his head, “and cheese, cheeky cheese-headed bastard”.

Valerie gives him a funny look, “where the heck are you getting _cheese_? But giving cheese flavoured whiskey _is_ something a guy who uses ‘butter biscuits’ as a swear would do”. Danny shrugs, “might be a halfa thing, I doubt my taste buds are the same. The Dairy King ghost haunts his main mansion to boot, he has a cheese crown”. Valerie snorts and starts laughing at that.


	14. That Final Nail In The Coffin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of finality.

After another week goes by, Danny bids farewell to Jazz, Sam and Tucker. Danny smirks at Tucker, “Vlad’s going to be pissed if he ever finds out his cameras have been jacked but what do I care”. Tucker immediately smirks over that, “I’d say good, he deserves it. But dude don’t keep us out of the loop like this again. Even if it was hilarious seeing Sam glitter bomb and flip off the Fenton’s”. 

Jazz shakes her head, “tormenting them really isn’t the best way to go about anything or to heal”, sighing with a small smile, “but I can’t baby you anymore”. Danny shrugs, “I guess I’ll do what I want but I’m sticking to my guns, if they cause problems then they’re not welcome in my town. Plus-”, elbowing her, “-I’ve got to get my petty side out somehow”. Jazz rolls her eyes at this but glares at his two friends, “don’t be giving him any more ideas”. Sam smiles evilly as Tucker sticks his tongue out. 

Sam and Tucker wave goodbye after a round of hugs, leaving the siblings alone. Jazz raises an eyebrow at Danny’s contemplative face, “what’s on your mind?”. Danny smiles nervously, “well, I’ve pretty much decided on changing my last name to Phenton, with a Ph because I’m me and all, also so people won't be too confused or ask questions. Care to join?”. 

Jazz smiles sadly, she understood the reasoning here, “everything is a joke to you isn’t it? But I will, _gladly_. Don’t expect this to make them realise they messed up, though”, shaking her head in disappointment, “there wasn’t an ounce of regret or even shame in them”. Danny shrugs, whatever, he's over it, “figured. It’s more that I don’t want to carry on their name or be tied to it. And no this isn’t because of what you said to them, I basically decided on a name change as soon as they disowned me”. Jazz hugs him, “good, it’s clear you’ve thought about it then. I think it’s for the best in that case”.

Jazz then waves goodbye, leaving Danny to head home alone. Or at least till Jesse pops up, “well fancy seeing you here Leather. Bidding fond farewells?”. Danny smiles happily but with a tinge of sadness, “yeah, they’ll be back of course. Always are and always will be”. 

Jesse nods at him as she starts walking to the park, turning to walk backwards, she waves for him to follow; chuckling he does so. Her laughing, “you have a Hell of a family, Leather. And I mean the three of them and Vee; not those other jerks. They’ll get no cookies from me”, giving a firm nod of finality.

Danny smirks, “I certainly hope not”, thinking for a second before continuing, “at this point, it would be mean of me to keep you out of the loop. So want to know why the towns resident ghost hunter crazies turned out to be complete jerks?”. Jesse spins around, hands behind her head, “at this point I want to know everything about you ‘cause you’re just so weird. But I bet ten bucks on it being something to do with that creepy power aura of yours. What? they find out you’re a god?”. Danny laughs heartily, she sure has clung onto that idea about him, “I’m really not a god unless you have some unusual opinions on what a ‘god’ is”, sticking up a finger, “but I _am_ a prince for one”.

Jesse makes a fish face, “is it odd I believe you on the prince thing? ‘cause I don’t think it’s weird. I still say you’re a god”, tapping her chin, “maybe a guy on his way to becoming a god. Still a god though”. Danny shakes his head and smirks, this girl was very easy to feel relaxed around and her already being convinced he was something else made this so much easier, “I’ll be king when the world finally mans up and kills the other half of me”. 

Jesse gives him a humoured look, “well I guess gods don’t actually live amongst mortals so that makes sense”. Danny shrugs, “more like ghosts but again sorry for the, apparently excessive, aura”, making her tilt her head curiously. 

With that Danny transforms in front of her and her eyes go wide. Danny giving a little wave, “hi Jesse”. 

Jesse blinks and laughs, “Holy shit I’ve been living across from Danny freaking Phantom!”, shaking her head slightly, “how the Hell honestly? And so what? you’re a ghost prince? Makes sense, still you are, like, the most powerful one I’ve ever sensed. So what are you like part ghost or something ‘cause I’ve never sensed someone whose aura can actually change”, tilting her head and pursing her lips, “though yours isn’t all intoxicating anymore, what’s up with that? And the bigger irony? I actually said to Vee that I was sure you weren’t a ghost and now!”, sticking her arms out in his direction, “you are! And yeah-”, nodding, “-I see how those idiots would freak, they’re still jerks though”. 

Danny laughs floating in the air, “yeah I’m Phantom, and I’m called a halfa. Technically only three of us exist. Half alive and half dead”, chuckling, “meet the reason for my humour”, she actually laughs with him at that, while he continues, “I’m not a ghost prince but rather _the_ High Ghost Prince. As in I’ll be king over _all_ other ghosts. As for the intoxicating thing?”, shrugging, “I think that’s like the blurry thing. Apparently, I look blurry to anyone who doesn’t know what exactly I am”, he really couldn’t think of any other reason. 

Jesse mouths ‘wow’ before actually speaking, “pretty sure that’s supposed to be against the laws of reality or something”, Danny snickers at that making Jesse point at him, “over-sized, over-powered impossibility; that’s what you are. And Halfa is super uncreative”, waving her hand at him dismissively, “Demi-ghost sounds cooler. Now whatcha mean by ‘technically’ three of your kind? You’re a rare creature huh? And if you’re going to rule an entire dimension, I think that still makes you a god. So you’re a god, a ghost god”, nodding curtly, “that’s a really neat form of self-protection you’ve got, you’re so secretive that it even affects how other people can see you”, pointing aggressively at him, “those jerks should be proud and are even more jerky for not being so”. 

Danny nods, she sure could talk, “got to agree, I was disappointed in them, to say the least”, tilting his head, “and well Demi-ghost is _actually_ more accurate for the other two, while halfa is more accurate for me. See the ‘technically’ was because I’m the only one that is _exactly_ half human and half ghost while still a full being. The other two, one is only a third and the other isn’t a full being, only about eighty percent of one. But yes, we’re incredibly rare”, sighing exasperatedly but a little fond, “and I guess I’m just a ghost god then”, making her smirk and nod curtly. 

She walks up and pokes him a couple times while he just looks amused, “well halfa is still lazy”, shaking her head and giving him another poke, “you’re squishy. Didn’t expect that. Velvety soft”.

Danny scrunches up his face and laughs, “my ‘spandex’ -heck, all of me- is ectoplasm like this. That stuff’s a liquid or a gas”, shrugging, “sometimes solid-er”, thinking for a second before shrugging again, might as well. Grumbling, “everyone else bugs me about it anyways”, grabbing her wrist slowly and gently, putting it to his chest, “‘nother quirky ghostly thing. We’ve got our own little version of a heartbeat”. 

Jesse tilts her head for a bit before nearly squealing, giggling a bit wildly, and jumping up to wrap her arms around him; pushing her ear against his chest, “OH MY GODS YOU _PURR_ ”. Danny just floats awkwardly in the air, “uhh, pulsing, _actually_ ”. 

“Shhh you, it’s purring and it’s adorable”. 

Danny grumbles humorously, “why did I think this was a good idea?”. While she lets go of him and drops back to the ground. 

She stands up on her toes and stretches to ruffle his white hair, “‘cause we’re neighbours, and neighbours tell each other things. Secret things. That, and we’re friends. Though I imagine you probably have _tons_ of stuff to do constantly in ghost town. Hell, you probably want to head home”. Danny just shrugs so she laughs and shakes her head. Pointing at him, “don’t be surprised when I show up with Phantom-shaped cookies. And wow does this ever explain all the black and white, well, everything”. Shaking her head again at his smirk before she full-on hugs -the still curled and floating- Danny, slapping his back once before running off smiling like a loon.

Danny blinks after her, “well, odd as always, and she’s clearly _way_ too used to weird”. Danny shoots off into the sky not noticing Jesse smiling and giggling to herself while looking up at him. 

Jesse walks, arms behind her back and swinging her legs around goofily. Well that certainly explained a lot. The bloody, frequent injuries that she kinda intentionally ignored now (him being sans a few fingers once probably wasn’t a dream). The coldness that followed him. Him doing glaringly inhuman stunts without seemingly realising that’s weird. His weird aura(s), he still somehow has two somehow. Didn't the Red Huntress used to hunt Phantom though? Wow, real enemies to lovers there. The ghost and the ghost hunter; ha! that’s cute. Chuckling to herself, and to think, she had made friendly with the king of ghosts. Or Prince. Ruler of the dead. That’s got to earn a few brownie points with the reaper for when they come knocking. Pausing her steps, “wait. Would he _be_ the reaper?”, and that thought takes her all the way home; wondering just _how_ powerful and influential the local ghostly hero was.

Danny elects to fly about town lazily for a while to ponder everything that’s happened, Jesse’s more gleeful, but unphased really, reaction made him feel oddly... _normal_. This random lady, random Amity Parker, just looked at him and went ‘hmm well, a being like you exists. Neat!’ and that was pretty much it. No pestering him about how he did his heroly duties. No ‘what the fuck is wrong with you’ or asking how he freaking _died_. No requests or real hero worship. Still with the god thing though; even if that wasn’t new. 

Eventually, he’s approached by Ember, “I hear you got a new lair core, Phantom. And a new portal”, smirking, “spiffy colours, very original”. Danny laughs genuinely with a smirk on his face, “what can I say, the colours of life and death become me”. 

“Well that’s pretty damn poetic”, Ember manifests a black and white guitar and offers it to Danny, “music is the soul put to a tune, so sing, dipstick”. Danny eyes the guitar wondering if she actually knew his old one was destroyed but decides he doesn’t really care anymore. 

Taking the guitar the pair fly on to a roof and belt out some angry, some sad, and even some love songs; no hypnotising involved. Ember flies off with a wave, “it would be nice if Skulker would learn to play”. To which Danny chuckles, guitar still in his lap, shouting after her, “I’d offer to teach him if he wasn’t likely to try and strangle me with the strings!”. He can practically feel her rolling her eyes, but she doesn’t deny it (because it’s true). 

* * *

Valerie eyes the guitar when he comes back, “is everything with you so damn black and white?”. Danny laughs, “it’s a gift, and I’m a mix of the two, clearly”, setting the guitar down, “by the way, Jesse knows about Phantom, ran into her by the airport. She’s also decided, of all things, that I’m still a god”. 

Valerie sticks her head out the kitchen entrance, “wow that took longer than I thought. Something tells me she didn’t even freak out did she?”. Danny chuckles leaning against a wall, “the closest I got out of her was a mouthed ‘wow’. But apparently my aura isn’t intoxicating anymore so that basically confirms the whole people can’t see me or feel me right, unless they actually know”. Valerie nods as she heads back into the kitchen, “makes sense I guess and it’s really good for you”. 

Danny nods, “yeah it’s nice her not freaking even if it does miff me a little. I’m a _spooky_ creature, I’m supposed to be _spooking_ ”. Valerie snickers, “apparently you suck at being a ghost, Danny”. Danny groans exaggeratedly and sags, “I know! and even a bed sheet don’t help. I would know, tried that once”. 

Valerie snorts as she puts away the cleaning stuff, quirking an eyebrow at him, “did you _really_?”. He nods, “it was for Halloween, alright”, she just laughs and shakes her head; moving to give him a quick peck on the cheek.


	15. The Beau Of The Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to party it up like the spookies do.

Danny sits up and stretches, phasing his hand into the little side table, pulling the Christmas truce invite out through the top. Valerie rolls over and eyes him, “pfft, jerky ghosts showing off their jerky powers”.

“And Ancients how messed up you must be to love this jerk”. 

She moves to shove him but he just lets her hand and arm phase straight through his torso. She scowls at him and tries to smack his head, only for the same issue to occur. Danny grins meanly down at her; she scowls and turns her face back into the pillow, just leaving her arm phased through his waist. 

Danny smirks as he rechecks the invite to make sure he’s got the location and date right. Valerie grumbles into her pillow, “it’s today, isn’t it?”, turning her head to look at her arm and his vaguely translucent waist, “how is this not uncomfortable?”. 

Danny glances down and shrugs, “kinda just feels like someone’s lightly pushing a really long marshmallow on my skin honestly. I’m aware your arm’s there but it doesn’t bother me; just more like a back of the mind awareness. And yes, today’s the day”, giving a slightly sarcastic, “excited?”. Valerie flexes her fingers, “huh”, turning her head back into the pillow, “honestly? I’m nervous as shit. Sure I’m kinda interested about this. Seeing a freaking ghost party and how ghosts are at those. But I'm still a _hunter_ , Danny. I’ve fought these ghosts aggressively and spent a long time being super anti-ghost. Hard to think they’ll really be fine with me. Dating you or not”.

Danny nods sympathetically, “trust me, if anyone understands the worry of hanging around people who might want them dead, it’s me”. Valerie moves her hand out of him and goes to pat his leg, him returning fully tangible, “yeah that’s true”. 

“Yeah and I’m telling not to worry. And I can tell you, the ghosties would prefer you over some girl -or guy- who can’t fight as the High Princess Consort to-be. The fact that you can and have kicked a few of their asses is a point in your favour actually”.

Valerie jerks her head up and flips onto her side to push herself up, “woah woah, wait a fucking second. What the heck do you mean by ‘princess consort to-be’. The fuck is that? Have I earned some title due to us being a thing?”, then, realising how accusatory that sounds, “not that that’s a bad thing. I’m just confused and would like to know what I’ve gotten myself into here”. 

Danny chuckles and rubs his neck, setting the invite onto the side table, “fair. Really is just a title though, no added responsibilities or anything. You'd have that title if you dated any ghost prince... or princess for that matter. It’s literally just a fancy way to say the royals girlfriend”. Valerie snorts and flops to lay down, “that seems so unnecessary”. 

“Tell me about it. But it’s got its uses. More so for mated -married- royals. It pretty much denotes which royal married into royalty and which actually had claim to the throne. The married in one has less power and control than the one with claim”.

“Huh. So... what would I be if we were married instead?”. 

Danny can’t help blush a little at that, “uhhh. Right now? Well um, I’m still just the prince. So that’d make you princess consort”. She snickers at him and pokes his cheek, earning an eye roll from him. Valerie tilts her head, “so if I was the princess with claim to the throne instead, then you’d be prince consort? Or is the ‘consort’ some sexist bullshit and only applies to girls?”. Danny snorts, “you sound like Sam. But if we were... wed, then yeah. That’d be prince consort”. 

She smirks and pats his leg, “that’s some true equality right there”, sitting up, “anyway, what time do we have to leave? Do we need to get up? Mr. Prince”. Danny side-eyes the invite, “we’ve got a few hours. Three to be exact”, tilting his head, “all I really need to do is have breakfast quickly”. Valerie snorts and rolls her eyes, “meaning chug a pot of coffee”, shrugging, “that’s more than enough time to do my hair and makeup”. 

Danny shrugs himself, “I will never understand how long that stuff takes. You just wearing your suit? ‘Cause most ghosts don’t exactly ‘dress up’. Even I don’t... Well okay, I _did_ wind up wearing a bunch of tinsel two years in a row but I didn’t show up like that”. 

Valerie shakes her head with a chuckle as she shoves the blankets off to get up, “you’re a joke, Danny. An impressive one but still. And yeah, just my suit”. Danny smirks, “well it does _suit_ you and it is your trademark look at this point”. Valerie smacks him for that as she pulls on a dark orange tank top. 

Valerie takes her offered teacup from Danny as he sits with his mug of black coffee, “question, because I might as well learn this shit, I’m guessing ‘mated’ is just ghost for ‘married’”. Danny shakes his head, “close. Let’s put it this way, ghost divorce isn’t a thing”. Valerie blinks at him, a bit taken aback, “so ghosts effectively marry _forever_ ”, shaking her head in disbelief, “how does that work? Couples fight? Change? Grow apart?”.

Danny frowns slightly, “fight? Yeah. But change and grow apart? No. Ghosts are stagnate things. Change isn’t really a thing. We can improve ourselves and grow up; gain more power or dominion. But that’s kinda it. Unless you go messing with child Cores”, Danny grimaces before continuing, “as for the forever thing? Yeah, pretty much. And if one goes down, the other _will_ follow. Needless to say, taking a mate isn’t exactly... common”. 

Valerie chokes a little, that was nuts, “geez you would really have to love someone to be an absolute ‘till death, or re-death or whatever, do us part. Jesus Christ”, shaking her head and bitting her lip a little, “so, the way you are now? You’ll be like this forever, excluding the whole fully dying thing”, and cringes a little. Danny nods a bit awkwardly, “yeah. I’m cool with that. All ghosts generally are”, sipping his drink, “and there is benefit to forming a mate bond. You’ll share your power effectively, both just general strength-wise and abilities wise. Not entirely or equally mind you, but still. You can’t just mate bond anyone though, you really have to love them to the Core. Literally”.

Valerie sighs sounding a bit revealed, “well that’s comforting, knowing there’s a fail-safe for that”. Danny nods immediately, “agreed”, smirking, “the Box Ghost and Lunch Lady are mates by the way. Same with Kitty and Johnny”. Valerie mutters into her cup, “god that’s weird and those two fight _constantly_ ”. Danny chuckles and nods. 

Valerie gets up and washes out her cup, glancing at the clock, “well guess I should get ready”, looking to Danny, “not going to rock the ‘evil eyeliner’?”. Danny straightens out stiffly and goes slightly wide-eyed, “shit yeah, I totally should”. Valerie just laughs as she follows after him into the bathroom. 

Valerie can’t help but pause, eyeball Danny’s arm which had just phased through her when she tried to bump him out of the way, and laughs, “well I guess makes up for the lack of space”. Danny chuckles and draws on the second under eyelids eyeliner, “just making up for being a massive dude. That, and it’s easier than physically moving”, Valerie rolls her eyes at that, as Danny leaves the room -finished- before Valerie starts gassing the room with hair spray. 

Valerie leaves the bathroom herself to the sight of Danny putting away all the dishes, well, some appeared to be putting _themselves_ away. Valerie laughs out a few of her nerves at the sight, “you have telekinesis? And man you can be lazy”. Danny turns to her and grins, towel hanging itself to dry, “yup, I forget I can sometimes though. Not really useful in fights”.

Valerie tilts her head and thinks for a second, “you could throw things around with it”. Danny quirks an eyebrow, crosses his arms, and then a pillow flies at him out of nowhere, phasing clean through his body, “you were saying?”.

“You could... stop stuff from falling? Like bricks or a sign?”. This time the pillow comes at her but bounces off a green shield. She’s pleased with herself for not flinching. Danny points at the shield before it dissipates, “that’s easier”. 

“What about moving people out of the way?”.

Danny blinks at her disbelievingly, “do you really think people would take well to me effectively controlling their bodies to move them? That’s barely a step above overshadowing”. Valerie blinks and cringes, “oh, okay yeah, that would be bad. I give up, your telekinesis is combatively useless. Other than maybe handing someone a gun or something”. Danny chuckles and nods, “pretty much. Anyway, you good to go?”. Valerie nods, summoning out her suit. 

And that’s how the couple comes to stand in front of a swirling green portal, Valerie taking a few breaths before summoning her board and flying in. Danny settles for sitting on the back of her board, ghostly tail waving about as he tells her where to go. Effectively sticking extremely close by in doing so; Danny pointing out unique places or landmarks as they go. 

They get there relatively quickly and are greeted with merry cheer, specifically with Skulker grinning pleasantly at the front of the group, “Whelp! Brought your own catch I see! Well today there is no quarrel and I’ll always respect a fellow hunter. So drink! Eat! And tomorrow, _die_!”. Danny laughs, hopping off her board, “it’s you who will be pelted tomorrow, Skulkie”. Skulker laughs and shoves a piece of cake into both their hands. Valerie assumes Danny will tell her if somethings up, so she enjoys the cake. 

She snickers at Danny, “I like how he still threatened to kill you”. 

“I’d be worried if he didn’t”, Danny smirks at her before waving his hand around and smiling, clearly calling to someone, “Dora!”. Resulting in an honestly friendly-looking blonde-haired ghost in a flowing dress coming over.

The ghost, who Valerie is assuming must be Dora, bows to Danny -which is more than a little strange to see- before grasping his hands in hers and looking up to him searchingly, “nestmate mine, you seem well”, nodding and smiling softly, “truly a splendid thing, Prince Phantom”, turning to Valerie, “I take it you are his beloved. You dress the colour of living blood and carry the scent of much spilled ectoplasm. A warrior certainly”, and gives Valerie a sharp-toothed smile. Looking back to Danny, “she suits you. A warrior for a kingsbane”, and quickly floats up to give Danny a quick kiss on the crown of his forehead.

Valerie blinks after the ghosts as she floats off, speaking to other guests, before Valerie looks back to Danny, “so that was a... _compliment_?”, shaking her head, “and ‘kingsbane’? ‘Nestmate’? And the forehead kiss?”, muttering to herself very quietly, well aware of ghosts good hearing, “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this far out of my element”. 

Danny chuckles a bit, “Dora’s a born and raised royal. Lived a royal too. So she is basically the standard for royal behaviour. Which yeah, would be foreign to you. I don’t exactly act royal”, rubbing his neck and shaking his head, “I kinda earned the kingsbane thing ‘cause I just keep winding up beating up royals. Including her brother”. Valerie snorts and shakes her head, “I'm amazed she doesn’t hate you”. Danny shrugs, “eh, he was a piece of shit. She hates him. That’s kinda what’s up with the nestmate thing, means sibling. She kinda considers me the good older brother she never got to have”, smiling slightly, “even if she’s actually older than me”.

Valerie smiles at him and pats his back, “glad I impressed your sorta sister then. Your life is so weird”. Danny just smirks. It does leave her wondering if he has any other ghost adoptive family though. ClockWork maybe? He had referred to them as his ‘Guardian’ more than a few times. Guardian was effectively just another term for parent. She probably should avoid jumping to conclusions though.

From there Valerie does indeed tail him throughout the party, but no one seems to care at all. Kitty comes up to talk to her while Danny’s busy with showing Technus the inner workings of a deactivated Vladcam. Valerie recognises the green-haired girl and makes a point to give a friendly wave. 

Kitty leans against a table and chews idly on a pastry, her snickering a bit, “the two of you are so ironic you know, especially since Technus is the one who set you two up in the first place”. Valerie quirks an eyebrow at Kitty, a fair bit confused as Kitty sips her chocolate drink. Valerie finds it a bit ridiculous that Technus apparently hooked her up with Danny, “when did that happen? Why would a ghost be playing matchmaker? Especially him, he hates emotions”. 

Kitty shrugs, “he just wanted Phantom distracted, didn’t work out for him obviously”, laughing a little with a slightly mean smile, “Phantom might have been easily manipulated back then but it would _always_ backfire. Impressive honestly”. 

Danny walks up, chuckling, with Technus beside him still marvelling at the strange tech. Danny snickers and side-eyes Technus, “it didn’t help him that I knew practically the whole time. I just didn’t care”. Valerie gapes at him, “you moron”. While Technus looks insulted, “you _knew_ , ghost child! What am I, the great Technus, a fool?”. All three smirk and speak in unison, “yup”. 

Technus throws up his hands dramatically and floats off grumbling about being used. While Danny turns to Kitty, “things work out with Johnny? Haven’t seen him yet”. Kitty rolls her eyes, “yeah, but the jerk is hitting up basically every lady here and you’re no lady, Phantom”. While Danny mockingly pats at his chest like he’s checking for breasts, Kitty turns to Valerie, who’s gesturing to herself with a raised eyebrow, “Red, Johnny may be a dog, sleaze, jerk, and an idiot; but he’s not _that_ stupid”, poking Danny but continuing to speak to Valerie, “Phantom here better be treating you well, honey”, throwing a glare at the boy to make it clear that’s something of a threat before looking back to Valerie, “but I highly doubt he isn’t, Johnny could do with taking some notes”.

Danny blushes green a bit as Valerie responds, “of course he is. Plus, I’d kick his ass if he pulled something like that. And I don’t think he’s even capable of treating someone poorly”. Earning a few snickers from those around, some laughing at the idea of Danny getting beaten, others at the idea of a human even being _able_ to beat him.

The Box Ghosts voice rings out throughout the room, “HE TRAPPED ME IN HIS CYLINDRICAL OF DOOM FOR THREE DAYS! THAT IS POOR TREATMENT!”.

Danny bursts out laughing, “that’s ‘cause you showed up twenty-five times in the span of five hours, yes I counted. You needed a time out”, everyone who hears laughs at the Box Ghosts suffering. Valerie mutters, “I think I would have never let him out”. Making Danny snicker, “I debated burying it. But I’m not _that_ evil”. The Box Ghost goes wide-eyed and actually does looks a bit frightened, actually fleeing off when Danny gives him a menacing smile; fangs blatantly on display. 

Kitty pokes his cheek, “you’re almost more of a vampire than the vampire wannabe”. Danny scowls at her, which she just giggles at and flicks the points of his ears. 

Eventually, Valerie finds herself next to Danny on a couch as Danny and some ghost named Betrex, swap worst-or-craziest-injuries stories. 

“So then I got stabbed in the eye with two arrows right after being crushed”. 

“I got impaled by a cardboard cut out which set itself on fire, and then a light fixture fell on my face”.

Valerie tries to not look horrified as Ember cuts in, laying across Valerie’s lap, “yeah, and then you fought with the lightbox still on your head. Honestly? that was the best fight I’ve ever had with you, dipstick”. Danny chuckles, he had given precisely zero fucks that day, he had just been _so_ tired, “I actually left that on all day just to freak people out. Sam was both impressed and disappointed with me”. Valerie actually starts laughing at that, “I kind of wish I saw that!”. 

Valerie wanders over to the food table, feeling comfortable enough to not be right next to Danny, not letting him out of sight though. Her nibbling on a little donut that she absolutely made sure was labelled human safe, watching some black-skinned ghost handing Danny drinks and food. This is what Danny meant by some ghosts respecting and effectively ‘serving’ or ‘pleasing’ his title; even if the ‘prince’ title didn’t actually hold any power over them.

Turning her head as a red-skinned ghost with a candy cane cane and an honestly disturbing smile comes up next to her and samples some of the food, “hmmm, using flour rather than sweet ‘plasm certainly does affect the texture interestingly”, then looking to Valerie and smiling even wider, “you, fleshling, are quite interesting yourself hmmm?”, tapping her boot with his cane, “you certainly have appreciable tastes. Far better than that colourless _half-being_ ”, then nodding. 

Valerie blinks, well then, speaking a bit coldly, “I take it you don’t exactly _like_ halfas. I’m a human, not ‘fleshling’. Also, he has green eyes”, pointing at him, “that’s a colour”. 

“Oh on the contrary, I’m quite fond of the strange, deformed, and disturbed. He’s quite the interesting specimen”, leaning into her scowling face a little, “and here he is, taking steps down another strange path and keeping a creature of flesh -excuse me, a _human_ \- by his side. I find it quite quaint, High Princess Consort”. 

Valerie takes an aggressive bite out of her donut to force him to back off, “to-be, High Princess Consort _to-be_. And Danny ain’t your fucking personal entertainment”. She’s not really sure how to deal with this, is this normal? The ghost's eyes narrow a bit and he chuckles, “right, ‘to-be’. Well it would certainly be remiss of me if I thought of betting on whether you’d work out”. 

Valerie nearly jumps from Danny suddenly being right behind her and putting an arm over her shoulder to grab some snacks. Her not noticing Danny giving the ghost a slightly threatening look. The ghost waves the pair off, twirls his cane, and saunters off. Danny shakes his head with a chuckle, Valerie looking up to his face, “ghosts sure are interested in you. In us”. 

Danny nods, “well I’m their prince, half alive, have a Mortal Realm lair, and dating a human ghost hunter. That’s some interesting shit and wicked gossip”, leaning close to her ear, “and Rex is a lover of chaos. The old and dangerous kind”. Valerie shakes her head, unsurprised, “figures. And is ‘fleshling’ an insult?”.

“Naw, just old term for alive. He used it probably just to confuse you or make you _think_ it was an insult”. 

Valerie snorts and snags up a drink, “jackass”. Making him laugh, “welcome to ghosts, love. We’re all kinda jackasses”, tipping the rim of his cup at her, “you should see Dora when she gets pissed, turns into a dragon and has some real wicked hot breath”. He puffs a tiny little flame at her, she fans it away with an eye roll and just ignores that his drink is definitely at least partly ectoplasm, while she lets him effectively drag her off to socialise more; many ghosts smiling after them.

They continue on like this till it’s time for the dance. Valerie can’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of seeing a bunch of ghosts dancing, some pulling off decent footwork and others waving around their tails. Danny smiles softly, “welcome to my joke of a half-life, I have a feeling you’re sticking around to see it through”. Valerie leans into him, “and then some, future king Phantom”, she wasn’t going anywhere; regardless of how weird that might wind up being. 

The two swirl out onto the floor themselves as a love ballet comes on, Danny rolls his eyes faintly and is willing to bet Technus had a hand in that but really everyone did. Regardless of the fights, battles, and rivalries, they all generally wanted their princes happily ever after, it made him even that much stronger after all. 

The two dance in the centre, not floating for Valerie’s sake, surrounded by other swirling couples and some parents with their kids. Danny, with Valerie leaned into his chest, “I love you, Val. You reckless ghost hunter”. She smiles warmly against his chest, “I love you too, Danny. You stupid halfie Prince”. Making both of them snicker as the crowd smiles fondly at what will certainly be their future king and his queen.

**End**.

**Author's Note:**

> Also for: lunar--cat1364  
> Prompts: (1) Danny gets disowned by his parents for not being "normal", and for being a ghost. (2) Danny reveals his secret to Valerie, either on purpose or by mistake. how does she react?


End file.
